


The Thing About Time Travel

by Skits (SoulSearcher13)



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Canon Divergence, Corvo is in Denial, Corvo is very tired, Do Not Expect Regular Updates, Gen, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, No Beta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, So much denial, Spoilers, Time Travel, Unreliable Narrator(s), all my dishonored knowledge past game 1 is from fiction, i keep making Corvo pass out, of course there are spoilers, picking and choosing canon, probably its dishonored, this is a time travel fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-13 17:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21497812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulSearcher13/pseuds/Skits
Summary: Corvo didn't really need to find out that the Void is essentially a child. Or that the Outsider is like its favorite caretaker. He certainly could have done without the knowledge that the Void can throw tantrums when things doesn't go its way. And he absolutely could have lived without having the Void sending him on a mission to keep the Outsider alive.OrIn which Corvo didn't go looking for Time Travel, instead it found him.
Comments: 62
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something I'm just writing for fun. I don't know where I'm going with this or where I'm even ending. Throw in your two cents in the comments of what you're thinking and I might even be inspired, but I reserve veto rights. Ultimately, I'm going to do what I want. Still! I hope you enjoy.

The thing about time travel is that no one actually _ expects _ time travel. 

* * *

It’s mostly a coincidence that Corvo finds himself in the Void again, and it’s certainly a pleasure he could have lived without. 

The Void is not the plane it once was. Not since the death of the Outsider all those years ago. He can still remember his mark warping and the soul-wrenging agony as it did. It made him very thankful that he was alone when it occurred, he knows that the mark must have shone brightly when it did and there would have been no hiding that from the Abbey. 

Though with the Abbey’s collapse, he doubts that it matters now. 

He doubts anything matters now. Not the Abbey, not Dunwall, and certainly not him. 

Nothing should matter after Emily’s death.

Funny, a Royal Protector who can never protect his charges. The title is meaningless now, and one which he can’t claim anymore. Especially since he should have been by her side when it happened. 

The moment his connection to the Outsider severed, he knew the God was gone for good. It was instinctual, a clear knowledge resonating with his entire being. The Outsider was no more. 

But his connection to the Void didn’t disappear with it. 

He tested it, though Corvo hasn’t used his powers since Delilah (another time he failed _ failed fAiLeD _) and found that if anything his powers were stronger. And it seemed like a good thing. At first. 

He should have known better. Nothing good happens to him. 

Not a week after the mark changed, he started losing control. Corvo didn’t notice when it started. It was the little things. He found more rats hanging around the palace, and kept a closer eye on the cleaning staff, for fear of another plague, this time starting in the palace. He found that he managed to do his paperwork in half the time he used to, and so found he had more time for meetings and other duties. He was a little less tired, a slightly faster, incrementally stronger than before, and brushed it off as finally getting some time to do more than the basics in his physical training. 

And then he blinked in the middle of court meeting without even meaning to. 

He had to flee Dunwall that same day.

Corvo had to cut all contact with Emily, because as long as they don’t try to communicate, she could claim ignorance of his activities. It was vital to her position of empress that she deny any knowledge of his connection to the Outsider. Well, former connection, not that the Abbey would care about that. 

On top of that, with the reveal of his supernatural abilities, it was made completely clear that he was the Masked Felon. The mask was now useless in hiding his identity, but the features it had were too useful to give up in exchange for something else. And Corvo might reluctantly admit that he had gotten attached to the thing. He was always rather sentimental. 

The last time he got to see Emily was her look of shock in the meeting room before he had to escape. Corvo wished he was selfish enough to have taken her with him then. Anywhere would have been safer than Dunwall. 

The Fall started in Dunwall. 

It took Corvo years to figure out what the Fall even was. Meeting Meagan Foster again was a shock, but she was the best source of information on what was going on. She only just managed to find him before she died, telling him what happened with Daud and the Outsider. 

Discovering that the Outsider was once human was certainly something he didn’t expect. Hearing that not long after the Outsider was turned human once more, he was killed by the Void? Absolutely confusing. 

“The Void wanted him back.” Meagan coughed out, lips a bloody red. “He may have left it, but it didn’t want to let go. It ended up killing him. When he turned human, he was entirely normal. He may have still had a connection - not unlike the mark but not exactly like it either - but it wasn’t enough to keep him alive when the Void reached out for him. There was a ritual, you see. The Outsider didn’t reach the Void naturally. I wrote it in my journal, so read that when I’m gone. The point is that when the Void killed the human that the Outsider became, it was left with no one and nothing. And that may have been fine for the Void before the Outsider was ever thrust into it, but after four thousand years of having the Outsider in it, it was no longer in balance. Now, instead of the Void remaining in itself contained and controlled, it’s still reaching out for that presence to re-balance it. That’s the Fall.”

Corvo had to leave her for the Beasts, her journal gripped tight in his hands. Her body was too soaked in the Void; the Beasts were coming, and it would slow him down. 

And that’s what the Beasts were. They were the Void Infected. Animals unfortunate enough to wander into Void soaked areas and thus forever changed by the experience. Often, they gained some sort of ability and made it just that much more difficult to deal with them. 

The animals were still magnitudes more manageable than the Turned. There wasn’t even a real name for them. It was easier just to call them what they were. 

It just took a bone charm or a rune. Sometimes, not even that much. The unlucky people who found them were compelled to keep them. Slowly, they became seeped in the Void, becoming monsters that attacked all they saw. They were smarter too, having human intelligence, but only seemed to delight in the death and destruction. And every time, they were calling out, “Return the Outsider to the Void!” With the myriad of artifacts hidden away in the city, it was no wonder that Dunwall became the center of the Fall. 

Sometimes a human was more connected to the Void naturally. Those were the worst ones. Although they were rarer, they were the leaders of any Beasts or Turned around. Corvo doesn’t know who coined the term Generals, but he had to admit it was fitting. Although it wasn’t an army, the Generals were capable of planning and holding territory. Each their own master and often a terror to face. Corvo has met exactly one so far and he barely escaped with his life. From then on, he made it a point to avoid any areas where there was a hint of organization among any creatures of the Void. 

The Abbey tried to fight, but the music boxes were useless. The boxes didn’t make the Void stricken any weaker, and instead only angered them. It turned out that the music only affected the Outsider because of the ritual done to him. With the Void, it only stimulated it and made the creatures more willing to fight. The areas with more music boxes were the first to go. 

Emily was among them. As the Empress, she must have been surrounded by them. If the Outsider was around it would have worked, but then, if the Outsider was around, none of this would have happened in the first place. 

The Abbey fell first to the Void, and then to the people. How could it not when it was clear that the Outsider disappeared? With the Abbey’s constant denouncement of the Outsider, everyone thought they had something to do with the chaos that the world fell too. Had Meagan not explained to him, Corvo might have still thought the same. No one was stupid enough to wear clothes of the Abbey anymore. It was just asking to be killed. 

And when the news of Emily’s death reached him, he would have thrown himself into battle with the Void spawn if it wasn’t for the fact that he had people relying on him. For some reason, the mark on his hand didn’t turn him into one of the Turned, even though it was a clear connection to the Void.

Instead, he grew stronger, faster, more able with his powers with every creature he killed, their energy pouring into the mark and strengthening him. The mark changed too, spreading from his hand, to up his arm and down his chest. Now, his entire body was covered in the crest. And the whole time, it was a siren song to the monsters, screaming where he was. 

It was when he was surrounded by the creatures that Corvo first discovered his new ability. He needed them all to go away and leave him alone. He was exhausted from the never-ending battles. While manageable at the start, as time went on, more and more of the creatures found him. Corvo braced for what looked like his final fight, only for the eyes of the Beasts that found him to glaze over and turn away. 

Corvo passed out before he could examine the cause. When he woke up, roughly two hours later, he discovered there was a near transparent barrier around him. He tried stepping in and out of it and realized that so long as he was inside the barrier, he was hidden from all Void stricken. It even caused them to avoid the area the barrier covered. At least until the barrier fell and he was left vulnerable to the beasts once more. After that, he made sure to strengthen the ability every time he killed the Beasts or Turned until he was confident in his ability to maintain the barrier separately for a week. 

The length of time he was able to hold it wasn’t the only thing that grew through. Corvo was soon able to cover area of a small town with the barrier. And it came in handy whenever he found a civilian in need of safety. 

None of them wanted to leave him when they discovered he was able to keep the Beasts away. Although even a civilian could fight now, in the disaster the world has fallen to, that didn’t mean they didn’t desire a safe place to stay. And so Corvo found that his nomadic lifestyle was at an end, and he was now in charge of the safety of tens of lives. 

Corvo wanted to die, but how could he when these people were calling him their Protector. 

(Ha.) 

So with the discovery that he’s in the Void, its with relief and worry that he discovers he doesn’t know what caused him to awaken there. 

Looking around, Corvo can see the turmoil the Void is in. The eerie serenity that he remembers of the Void from the past is no more. Instead, the Void appears to be fracturing, tearing itself apart in the search of a presence that it can’t understand it killed. 

_ I must be dead. _ Corvo thinks to himself. How else could he be in the Void now? He can only hope that the people of his Sanctuary can find a way to continue living. Maybe they will follow the rumors of another former Marked and see if they can plead for safety there. Corvo never sought them out, but he hopes they would be willing enough. 

Corvo takes exactly one step. 

**_YOU!_** The Void screams at him, the ground beneath his feet falling apart even as he scrambles for something to catch him. **_YOU WERE HIS HERALD. HIS FAVORED. YOU WILL REPAY THIS FAVOR. RETURN HIM. HE IS MINE._**

And then Corvo is F

A

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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter can also be known as, that time that the author keeps making Corvo wake up in weird situations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like this is on a bit of a roll for me. Hopefully the Characterization is okay. 
> 
> Also please read the notes at the end of the chapter.

The thing about time travel is that two of the same soul can never exist at the same time.

* * *

Corvo wakes up in a sea of corpses. 

Before the Fall began, Corvo would have tried to get away from the bodies the moment he registered what he woke up in for fear of disease. As it is, being buried in corpses is much better than being one so he settles in to take stock of himself. 

He frowns. For that matter, the Beasts should have long consumed all the bodies. There shouldn’t be a pile of corpses large enough to bury a man in it, especially not one of his size. While he’s not the tallest Serkonian around, he’s certainly above average height for Gristolians, which is what the bodies nearest to him look like and presumably what the rest of the bodies are like too. 

Corvo shifts the bodies slightly, then freezes, staring at his hand. His mark is out. He grabs for his hair and nearly panics at the growth that ends that the nape of his neck. It only takes a thought to send his mark up his body and to his hair, the Void energy like snakes on his skin. As his hair reaches the length of his knees, and as the last of the mark disappears into his hair, Corvo strains to hear the inevitable charge of the Void spawn.

All is silent. 

Hesitatingly, Corvo begins to carefully shift the corpses around him. It’s surprising to him how many there are. It took him a while to be able to see his surroundings, but he was stunned to recognize his surroundings. He was left with one question. 

How did he get to Dunwall?

* * *

Five hours later, Corvo had to correct himself. He is not in _ his _ Dunwall. Instead, he’s in a Dunwall that only had its Empress murdered three months ago. 

In his initial disbelief when he discovered this, Corvo spent ten minutes dedicated to confirming this information. Then he had to sit down when he realized that Emily was still alive. 

After breaking into the Golden Cat at record speed and nearly breaking down at not finding Emily there, Corvo fled the location for his current hideout in a nearby abandoned building. 

One with a conveniently placed Outsider shrine. 

Corvo strides to the shrine, hair lightly swishing in a tight braid behind him, and grabs the rune with long forgotten familiarity. Hopefully, the Outsider will answer. His mark is long changed after all. 

“Well, now isn’t this _ fascinating. _” Corvo could never forget that voice. He spins around to face the god, now seeing the Void as it once was around them.

“Outsider.” Corvo greets, relief that this isn’t a delusion he made up seeping into his voice. The Void that surrounds the god’s presence is not something he could imagine. 

For the first time since he’s met the god, the Outsider is grinning, smile nearly splitting his face. It’s an eerie look on the god and it sets him on edge. Corvo opens his mouth to ask if the god knew how he arrived to this time only for his voice to give out. No matter how much he tries to speak of the future, not a sound escapes his mouth. 

“Even more fascinating.” The god doesn’t blink and his gaze does not waver from Corvo. “You’re clearly trying to tell me something, but you’re unable to say a word. Never mind that; I was certain that you were dead.” 

Corvo’s eyes widen, shock clear on his face. He nearly staggers back into the shrine behind him. “Dead?”

“Oh yes, my dear Corvo.” The Outsider doesn’t move, but Corvo cannot help but feel like he’s being circled by a bird of prey. “I was ever so disappointed when your story was cut short. There were endless possibilities ahead of you, only for you to die at your Empress’ side.” 

And the Void shatters. 

* * *

Corvo feels like he’s possessing someone. There’s that hazy feeling of being both in and out of control of his own body that is remarkably distinctive from anything else he ever felt. And yet, he knows he can’t be the possessor because the body he’s in is his own. 

For once, Dunwall’s dreary grey skies are a bright enthralling blue. He looks down at himself and realizes he’s on a ship. His immediate surroundings blur into sights and sounds and smells, but his vision is focused on the castle. On the people of Dunwall, down and hard on their luck but with-

_ Oh. _ Corvo thinks to himself. _ I’m dreaming. It’s this nightmare again. _

And it is a nightmare. Because even as he recognizes what’s happening, even as he wishes to strangle Campbell as he passes the moment Sokolov is painting the man, even as he wants to cut off Burrow’s head when he arrives before Jessamine. He can do nothing. 

The sight of Jessamine takes his breath away. Paintings, no matter how good, were nothing in comparison to seeing her in person. She is dazzling, even as she is weighed down by the plague on her people. A rock, in the raging seas of despair. 

And it’s now that Corvo finally gets an inkling that things are not as they should be. 

It was only after he got his mark that he could remember things as clearly as he could now. As he grew older, memories before it started to fade, but memories after were crystal clear. Almost as if he could redo everything he did during those times. Entire layouts of the city, people and things burned into his brain. Corvo was bitter that he could remember each and every bit of his crusade through the city for Emily and after, and would only have his memories of Jessamine fade away. He would have willingly burned his entire experience at Coldridge into his memory to remember her the way she was. 

So it’s with great difficulty that Corvo tears his gaze from Jessamine in favor of looking around. It’s an odd thing, looking into the edges of his vision without being able to move his head. It only makes Corvo more certain that something is wrong here. 

But he has no more time for those thoughts when Daud and his Whalers transverse into sight. He fights, but to disable not to kill, aiming for nonlethal shots with his gun and preferring to parry than strike with his blade. And he _ knows _ that battle is not like this, not even after he got the mark. 

Every action he makes is clear. He can see the Whalers move long before his body even responds in reaction to the fight. Battle should be chaos, uncertainty in everything and constant attention for the smallest indications of further actions. 

Even in his confusion, Corvo cannot drag his attention away to contemplate it when he is captured again. Held up by one of the Whalers in a Green glow, Corvo struggles to break free. Daud is about to make his strike into Jessamine’s chest. He doesn’t expect anything to happen. He never is able to save Jessamine in his dreams. 

But then something changes. 

Emily, dear sweet Emily, so young again, uses the hold breaker Corvo taught her before his departure from Dunwall to escape just at the Whaler that held her transverses, and runs into the Whaler holding him. 

The Whaler’s attention falters. The hold flickers. Corvo bursts into motion. 

Thoughts flicker through Corvo’s mind almost faster than he can register them. All are tinged with a desperation that makes them the clearest things he experienced in this odd, lucid dream. 

_ hestooclose. icantgetmybladeupintimeJessamineisintheway. ifigetinfrontofhertheblademightreachherthroughme. moveMOveMOVE. _

The blade and gun drop out of his hands as he throws himself into Jessamine, shoves her out of the way, and takes Daud’s blade through his heart. His gaze meets Daud’s for an instant. There’s (regret?) something in his eyes. Perhaps the man was honest when he told Corvo he regretted killing Jessamine. 

For a heart wrenching moment, Corvo thinks he’s finally managed to save her. He turns his head to look as he falls to the ground. A Whaler, not Daud, transverses behind Jessamine as she staggers away and stabs a blade through her back. This one hesitates too. They almost take the blade with them, but a barked word from Daud sends them away. 

A Whales grabs Emily and he sees her as she screams, paralyzed from horror. They transverse away. 

Corvo watches as Daud glances back at him, them, before he goes. The last man on the scene. 

With his last bit of effort, he sees Hiram Burrows make his way to their bodies. There is a triumphant gleam in the man’s eyes, so different from Daud’s, as he stares at the bloody scene he orchestrated. There’s surprise there too; it seems he didn’t expect Daud to kill Corvo. 

Corvo’s eyes don’t shut, but his vision fades.

* * *

Corvo awakens to the feeling of being prodded. It feels like a foot. 

He grabs it the next time it touches him and tries to toss them away, or at least off balance. They don’t budge. Corvo opens his eyes, and sees the Outsider looking down at him with amusement, more mountain than man. More god than man, really. 

Corvo lets go and shakily gets to his feet. “What happened?” He rasps, surprised at the sound of his voice. 

“Fascinatingly enough I have no idea.” The Outsider cheerfully informs him. It feels like the god might vibrate out of his skin in excitement. “Perhaps this is what happens when a man lives without a heart. That really should be impossible, you know, and yet, here you are.” 

“Without-” Corvo’s hands fly to his chest. The familiar beat is no longer there. Instead there’s a hum that vibrates through his bones and blood and skin. There’s a flow through him, energy that he would recognize blind, deaf, and dumb.

The Void lurks in his body. _ His _Void, not the one he’s currently in. Which is rather confusing, so he takes it as fact and moves on before he gives himself a headache. He has far bigger problems to deal with right now. 

Corvo looks back up at the Outsider, a growing suspicion when he considers what he’s missing. “_ Where _ is my heart?”

A flicker of guilt passes over the Outsider’s face, unrecognizable if this was truly the first time he was meeting the man. “I have never seen a man come back from the dead before, and so I was certain you wouldn’t need it any longer.”

“Outsider,_ where is it? _”

The Outsider is looking straight at him, appearing as relaxed as ever, and it gives his avoidance away as the god was so pent up with energy a minute before. “I have taken it and molded it with the pieces of the Void that your soul passed through. The imprints your soul left behind in the void gave the heart your Voice and strongest thoughts. I have passed it to one of my favored, as it would be very useful to them in their path.”

“Oh for,-” Corvo pinches the bridge of his nose and shuts his eyes for several seconds. “Let me get this straight; you gave my heart to the man who _ killed me _.” 

“And how do you know that? You certainly didn’t before you collapsed.” The Outsider changes the subject with great aplomb for someone who is clearly in the wrong here. And if it was any other time Corvo wouldn’t have let him get away with it, but the god makes a good point. 

So in revenge, Corvo ignores the Outsider outright. Instead, Corvo considers everything he’s learned and experienced. 

First of all, this is not his time. Second, he still has all his abilities, even if he never got the mark here. Third, he is dead. Or supposed to be. 

He thinks back to when Emily broke free. He didn’t think of it as much back then, but when the Whaler transversed, the Void flickered. The Whaler’s transversals always look like they fall apart, but this time it was slightly larger than usual. Could the Void have broke Emily free? And why? The only thing that did was- 

Corvo frowned. He died. He died and then woke up three months later covered in corpses and filled with his Void and was not this Corvo, but the Corvo he would have been had he survived the Empress’ assassination. 

But why now? Why not earlier in his life? He could have died in Serkonos or in a spar with a guard. Perhaps it’s because Daud and his Whalers were using so much of their marks? But he had been around them later in the flooded district. Corvo looks down at his unmarked left hand. 

Was it because this was the time he was the most involved with the Void without being marked by the Outsider? 

Considering everything, it was as likely as any other option, and certainly the best Corvo can come up with right now. And if he’s remembering correctly, before he woke up in this time, the Void was screaming at him. He is to…

He’s to stop the Outsider from leaving the Void. But the Outsider seemed to have planned to either kill himself or turn himself human from what Meagan’s journal told him. 

Corvo looks back at the Outsider, who’s giving a remarkable impression of a man patiently waiting to hear an answer, even when Corvo knows that the god must be impatient and eager to hear what he’s going to say.

So how exactly is Corvo going to be able to stop a possibly suicidal god from leaving the Void when Corvo can’t even explain what’s going to happen if he does? 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write this as the summary but didn't want to spoil anything: Corvo is in the past, the Void is in him, and the Outsider, as always, is fascinated. 
> 
> As for the heart!Corvo thing, LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I NEVER READ THE FIC WHERE CORVO IS THE HEART IN THAT DAUD/THOMAS STORY ON AO3. So people, please PLEASE do not tell me what happens in that fic. It is one of the few fics in this Dishonored fandom I haven't gotten to yet and I'm saving it for when I'm mentally prepared to dive into a new ship. I am not a fan of Daud/Thomas, but a good fic can throw me into it head first so please do not spoil it for me. 
> 
> However, I really liked the idea and given my thoughts on where this story might possibly go, this seemed like a very appropriate use of a heart!Corvo. Especially since I need a heart, Corvo dead (but not DEAD dead) and given that Daud hadn't killed Jessamine, but someone else in the Whalers (important, hint hint) giving Daud Corvo's heart (who he KILLED) sent warm tingles of excitement through me. Do you think something's wrong with me? 
> 
> If you have any questions, or even just want to chat, comment! I'll try to respond when I can.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which being Corvo is pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For the six (SIX!) people who subscribed to this story, I hope you realize how much I'm thankful for your interest. Lucidsilver, thanks for the bookmark! And Teyke, I love your story Disarray and squealed to myself when I realized you read and commented on my fic. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

The thing about time travel is that it doesn’t actually fix your problems. 

* * *

“Well, Corvo?” The Outsider asks, looking like a man who’s about to discover the killer in a murder mystery. 

Corvo rolls his eyes, trying to hold off the inevitable breakdown pressing down on him. “I’m not too tempted to try and explain what happened after the first time my voice was taken from me.” 

Wilting, the Outsider somehow looks like a petulant kid kicking a stone with a single blink of the god’s eyes. It’s gone so fast Corvo isn’t sure it wasn’t his imagination. “No matter,” the Outsider says. “I’m sure all will be revealed in time. Time, of which, we are running out.”

Corvo raises an eyebrow at the irony, but keeps his silence. He can feel it too; the way the Void around them is growing more unstable. This place where the Void is temporarily in the same space as the mortal realm is just that. Temporary. And yet, as Corvo watches the Outsider draw himself into his usual overdramatic persona, he can’t help but get a sinking feeling in his bones.

“Normally I would give you some instruction in its use before setting you off into the world, but needs must.” The Outsider smiles, but it is more unsettling than anything else. And not just because of the manic attention the god focuses on him. The Outsider makes an ostentatious, sweeping gesture. “I am the Outsider, and this is my Mark. Know that I will be watching you with _ great interest _.” 

Before Corvo can make a single motion of protest, the Outsider is gone, and his mark is burning cold on the back of his left hand. He only has a second to curse before _ his _Mark, the one that followed him back in time is upon the new one like a starved animal. 

Pain unlike any he’s ever known falls upon him. His vision is of nothing but bright, blinding light; his Marks flaring and colliding. He thinks he might be screaming, but he certainly can’t hear himself do so. He can sense the Marks colliding. In his head he can see a great Leviathan and an endless sea. There is a storm above it crackling with lightning, the shadow of a great bird just as large falling upon the Leviathan. The sea and whale fall upwards, and the storm and bird rise down to match. 

When the fight(union?) is finally, blessedly over, Corvo scrambles to leave the apartment and its damning shrine behind. Someone _ had _ to have heard him, and he doesn’t have time to let his body recover from its aches much less check and see what happened. 

It's only when he escapes to an even more run down area of Dunwall that he manages to catch his breath on the roof of one of the buildings. 

Fed up with the turns his life has been taking lately, Corvo gives himself an entire _ fifteen minutes _ to just sit and breathe. Not a second longer, he looks down at himself and sees how the Mark changed. 

The thing is, the Mark hasn’t _ really _ changed. When Corvo takes a closer look at the twisting lines on his hand - he can barely see any skin, there’s so much of his Mark over the Outsider’s - it's more like its been caged. A veil of his Void Mark is covering the Outsider’s original Mark, both hiding and, if what Corvo knows of his Void is true, protecting the remnants of the Outsider’s influence. 

At least the god will probably find this more interesting than insulting. Though why the god didn’t know he had a Mark- 

No, Corvo considers his action up to now. For all that he broke into the Golden Cat, he didn’t use his Mark at all. Old habits of never taking it out for nothing less than an unavoidable pack of Beasts meant that he used his, admittedly greater than human physical ability to get into the building. 

Corvo glances down at the Mark on his hand, hesitant, and tries to tear the fragment of his Mark back away from the Outsider’s. 

When he recovers from that bout of stupidity, Corvo just resolves to find a pair of gloves, counting himself fortunate that his entire Mark didn’t see it fit to gain a willpower of its own. At least he can hide the clearly _ living Void _ on his skin. It’s fortunate that his Mark only covers his hand and doesn’t go past his wrist. He tries to use the Outsider’s Mark, and finds that the power that comes to him through it is not, in fact, Blink, but instead a spacial tear. 

Corvo stares. He knows that, if he doesn’t think too hard on it, he’s able to carry on his person anything that can fit in his pockets, but when he tried to reach for some supplies to sustain himself in this time he found that it was empty. In _ this _ tear, he can see everything that he stuffed inside in his hoarding for emergencies. He hadn’t realized that he kept so much on him. Perhaps with the connection of his Void Mark and the Outsider’s Mark allowed him to reach into this space beyond normal space and time.

In fact, as Corvo analyzes the size of the tear and compares it to the pile of gold, food, elixirs, and other miscellaneous things that he’s picked up over the years, he thinks the tear is able to take in much larger things than before. He might even be able to store things that he previously couldn’t wrap his mind around carrying too much of in his pockets. Visions of an endless supply of ammunition fill his mind. Never again would he have to scramble to knock out a guard instead of reaching for a sleep dart. 

Brief fantasies aside, with this new ability… Corvo felt a rising need for petty revenge. He may have gotten his vengeance on Campbell and Burrows once, but he certainly won’t pass up the opportunity to torment them again. 

And he can start with robbing them blind.

* * *

Of course, as eager as he is to start stripping the Abbey of everything they own, it’s not his main motivation for infiltrating the Abbey. 

For whatever reason, probably somehow related to the fact that he’s not alive and in Coldridge, Emily is not at the Golden Cat. This means Burrows has had her kept elsewhere and without any idea where she is, he has to fall back on old methods.

Campbell’s black book is his main target and Corvo will steal everything not nailed down from the Abbey while he’s at it. 

Back when he first grabbed the book, Corvo had no time to do more than the minimum, worn out and unfamiliar with his new powers. Now, he eavesdrops on the conversations of the Overseers, memorizes the layout of the building, and liberally uses his Void Mark to keep track of _ exactly _ how many people are in the Abbey. He’s missed being able to anticipate the location of his enemies. He’s certainly been ambushed more than once during the Fall. The Beasts can be frighteningly quiet when on the hunt. 

Unfortunately for him, it seems Campbell is out for the night and in a meeting with Burrows. The High Overseer will be back the next night, though Corvo is loathe to waste time waiting for the man. 

Reluctantly, Corvo makes his way to another abandoned apartment, this time without an Outsider shrine. He’s not quite willing to see the god anytime soon, not after the fiasco with his Mark. 

Alone in a dark room, the smell of sickness and death in the air, Corvo is unable to distract himself from the silence of his heart. Or where his heart should have been. 

Corvo presses his unmarked hand to his chest. The dissonance between his steady breaths and the absence of his heartbeat unsettles him more and more. Without realizing it, his breathing grows erratic. 

_ For that matter _ , Corvo thinks rather hysterically, _ do I even need to breathe anymore? _

And all of a sudden it's too much. He didn’t even notice missing his heart until the Outsider brought it to his attention, so why is it all he can think about now? The absence makes him feel cold, colder than he thought he could ever feel. His skin is warm, but this bone chilling fright saps the will to move right out of him. 

A man from the future with no heart and capable of inhuman feats, he would be called a monster by any human on a good day. 

Corvo nearly wished for it to be like the first time around. When he had no time to sink into his thoughts between missions from the Loyalists. At Coldridge he had too much time to think, so when he was assigned one task after another, it was almost a relief. Even after Emily was crowned Empress, there was so much to do he hardly had a moment to himself, and he liked it that way. As long as there was a problem in front of him, he didn’t have to address the nightmares in the shadows lurking at his back. 

But when has his life ever been that kind? 

So Corvo lies on the barely habitable bed with a hand pressed to his heart and waits for exhaustion to take him, trying to think of nothing at all. 

It doesn’t come until the early morning rays shine over the horizon. 

* * *

Corvo doesn’t get more than a few hours of sleep. He’s forgotten how _ loud _ cities were. Even in this time of plague, people had more life to them; the pains of life causing them to voice their sorrows. After the Fall, most people were mute by choice more often than not. The smallest sound might bring unwanted attention upon any unfortunate soul. The lucky ones were found by other survivors looking for an easy mark. The unlucky ones were found by the Beasts. Even in his sanctuary, where people could live relatively safely, the pressing need to move silently, to not talk more than needed to communicate prevailed over the ability to entirely relax. After all, everyone had to leave it and face the Beasts again at some point. 

Unable to return to blissful unconsciousness and unwilling to remain alone with his thoughts, Corvo goes out and watches the people of Dunwall. 

And that’s how he spends his day. More and more people are falling to the plague, and there is not nearly enough elixir to go around. Food is scarce and crime is high, higher than even when he first broke out of Coldridge. He’s known things were bad, but three months later, the people already had their spirits worn down. In this time, people still have some hope. Not a lot of it, not after Jessamine’s death, but enough that they’re not willing to let go of any chance they can to survive. 

_ The Overseers haven’t been patrolling the streets. _ Corvo realizes. _ The Watch may prevent people from crossing the quarantines, but they look the other way for much of the more insignificant crimes; probably thinking of their own families. The Overseers would never allow this. They would punish someone with the accusation of heresy without a thought. _

It’s spotting a member of Slackjaw’s Bottle Street Gang that makes Corvo think. Right now, Corvo is a ghost, perhaps a bit more literally than figuratively. He can’t provide the help he wants to, and he certainly doesn’t have the means to distribute the goods he does get. Revealing that he’s alive is a stupid move. Burrows has already pinned the crime of regicide on him posthumously, saying he’s in cahoots with Daud of all people.

But a plan is spinning in his mind. He’ll be able to strike fear into the High Overseer’s and Regent’s heart, find Emily, and get a fence for his ill-gotten goods. A fence, who Corvo already knows how to handle. 

It looks like Corvo will have to put a visit to Slackjaw on his list of things to do. 

  
  


  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to be an interlude. Also you people have no idea how tempted I am to write Daud's POV now, but I'm not gonna because there are things going on with him that just wouldn't be as impactful without Corvo affecting the city. Well, more than he has anyways. 
> 
> Corvo, my boy, you need to start taking action. I want to be able to actually write changes to the timeline. 
> 
> Also, can anyone guess who's POV I'm going to write before Daud's? Let me just say, I'm getting more into their POV than I expected. Writing more too, considering I was only going to write in their POV for part of a chapter and instead it's an entire interlude.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude: Slackjaw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay, Corvo clearly doesn’t feel like showing how he took the Abbey down like a one man army. Instead, we have Slackjaw.

Slackjaw likes to think himself a businessman. Sure, the things he deals in aren’t exactly legal, but gangs and crime will exist with or without him. 

You see, Slackjaw didn’t set out to found the Bottle Street Gang, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take in the men that choose to follow him. No one truly _ sets out _ to start an organization. The people that work, the groups that _ last _ are the ones that have people willingly follow their leaders, often without the leader themselves having any input. 

“You got that spark,” Black Sally said when Slackjaw asked what made her look his way. “Some people are just natural centers. People who can lead and make others want to follow. And like it or not, people like you will be great. You don’t have ambition, but you want things to be _ fair _, as if anything fair when you deal with criminals.”

Slackjaw was just a boy then. He didn’t really understand what she was talking about. If people were going to make a deal, he thought, then they should keep their word. How else are they going to be able to do business? 

Waving a hand at her body, Black Sally bared her teeth at him. “You see this boy? People took one look at me and thought, that’s a fine time. I ripped their hands off and made them pay in blood. I clawed my way up to a position of respect. I don’t got what you got. No one _ likes _ listening to Black Sally, they listen because they _ fear _.”

“But _ you _.” Black Sally, gave him a look. “One day, a man will come up to you and say, “I got two hands and I’m willin’ to work.” and you’ll have your hands too full of things to do that you’ll end up giving that man jobs. And more men will follow him, because you give work and keep your end of the bargain. Before you know it, you’ll be a leader and you’ll need territory.”

Black Sally leaned into his face and he can smell the stench of her breath as he stared back into her black hole eyes. “People like you are Kings of your own country. You listen to what’s around you, see what’s coming for you, and _ adapt. _ You’re going to be a _ fright _ boy, and I’m not gonna stand in the way when you take over.” 

She was right about Slackjaw. And she gave him enough work to bury him in his grave. So when the first man came up to him asking for a job, Slackjaw gave it to him. When that man came back, when that man _ kept _ coming back, Slackjaw gave more. Crowley was the first but not the last. 

And suddenly Slackjaw had people. And people can’t just have no base see, and these men followed him but not Black Sally, so when Slackjaw went up to her and said he’s starting his own gang, neither of them expected different. 

No other gang wanted another group muscling in on their turf though. Slackjaw didn’t see the problem. He went up to each with a deal on his lips and a naivety that died with Mike the Fish when the man broke his jaw, giving his namesake. From then on he makes deals, keeps his end of the bargain in both spirit and word, but kept a knife at his side for anyone who thinks breaking a deal with Slackjaw is the smart move. 

And when the other gang leaders didn’t take the hand that Slackjaw extended, Slackjaw made his point with their lives.

Slackjaw didn’t bother with the leftover men. Those men followed for work and money, he didn’t need to end them for doing their jobs. And it was because he let them go that they came back, this time to work for him. 

When the first whispers of plague came through, before the crown even looked at the poor and the sick, Slackjaw could see the profit in medicine. So before his men got sick, before the plague spread too far, Slackjaw went to war with the Hatters. 

Don’t get Slackjaw wrong, he offered a deal for the Distillery District. Made an offer more than fair for them at the time, but they decided to take what he gave and gave nothing back and _ no one _ breaks a deal with Slackjaw. 

The plague actually helped Slackjaw more than the Hatters. Even though they were the biggest gang on the streets, the plague reached them first. Split off into too many places and unable to focus on Slackjaw’s hit and run tactics, it was only a matter of time before the Distillery District fell into his hands. 

Slackjaw was quick to set up a rule where every man got elixir, the good stuff and not the watered down concoction he came up with to make a profit while still having effective goods. No point risking having his men fall to the plague. 

Slackjaw’s a businessman see, and Slackjaw takes care of his people. 

So it’s not long after the deed is done that Crowley brings some _ interesting _rumors to his attention. 

Slackjaw took the cigar out of his mouth and blew out smoke. “Repeat that.” 

Crowley eyed the cigar, but Slackjaw ignored him. He wanted a report, not a health lecture. “The Abbey was robbed blind. And whoever did it took every man out while they were at it. Not a man killed, but word is that no one saw the thief’s face neither. Said it was a figure wearing the face of death itself. The only one who got hit hard was the High Overseer. Man said that Campbell was branded with the Heretic's Mark. It’s some old tradition of the Abbey where no man is able to help the one branded with it.”

Crowley smirked. “Looks like soon Campbell will get a taste of the other side of his darker desires.”

Slackjaw snorts. “So someone cleans out the Abbey, leaves everyone alive, and _ no one _ has any clue how it happened?” Slackjaw asks skeptically. 

“Well, not no clue.” Crowley admitted. “Some Overseers are claiming it was a Witch. Said the thief had powers from the Void to sneak up on them. But Overseers are always claiming that it’s witches causing chaos, so it’s probably not true.”

“You wouldn’t have brought it up to me if you didn’t think it was true.” Slackjaw points out. “What are you thinking?”

Crowley’s lips pressed together. “See, I’ve been looking into the commotion a couple nights back. You know how there was that awful howling? And that light?” 

“Yeah, like the screams of the damned. Your point?”

“Most people said it was the sky screaming at them, but I looked into it a bit more and found an Outsider Shrine in the area. ‘fwasn’t for the fact that the room was barricaded, more people probably would have known about it. Thing is, you can’t get into the room without either a secret passage in or the ability to fly. So I looked into witch powers and heard that Daud’s men can get move from one place to another in the blink of an eye.”

Crowley put his hands in the air. “Now I could be wrong, but it’s either a witch or we’re dealing with someone else looking to take down the Abbey; and I’ve got my money on the witch.”

Slackjaw leans back in his chair and thinks. He’s got that tingle in his gut. The same tingle he got when he first got recruited by Black Sally. Whatever this is, it’s big. It’s big and coming and, much like Black Sally all those years ago, Slackjaw doesn’t want to get in their way. 

And what better way of staying on their good side than working with them?

Slackjaw looked at his right hand man. “Get the word out that Slackjaw is looking to talk the one masked in death. Tell the men to bring them to see me when they find them.” 

Crowley nods and leaves. He knows better than to ask questions. 

Slackjaw sticks his cigar back in his mouth and waits. 

* * *

Slackjaw doesn’t hear the man come in. No, Slackjaw keeps his eyes on the bits of broken glass and empty elixir bottles lying on the ground. He can see the man’s - he guesses, by the frame if not the hair - reflection on them. If it wasn’t for the fact that his men already sent word that they’re bringing him in, Slackjaw never would have known how close he was. 

Slackjaw likes that. 

“Word on the street is you're the one who cleaned the Abbey of everything they owned. Heard not a man was left with so much as a coin.” Slackjaw spoke without looking. He’s played this game long enough to know he has to start on the high ground.

When the man didn’t respond, Slackjaw turned to face him. The mask is more disturbing than he expected. A statement of some sort, though Outsider knows Slackjaw doesn’t have a clue what for. The man radiates danger just standing there. 

“See, Slackjaw wants to make a deal with you.” Slackjaw says, falling back on the habit of referring to himself. “All the goods you must have taken from the Abbey, there’s profit to be made there and Slackjaw wants in.”

There’s silence for a moment before a deep echoey voice reverberates about the room. “And what makes you think I plan on selling at all?” 

A shiver want to crawl up Slackjaw’s spine before he stamps it out. If Slackjaw were a lesser man he might have quailed, but Slackjaw didn’t get to where he is today by bowing. He might as well have just died when Mike the Fish spat back his deal the first time. 

Slackjaw spreads his hands. “Slackjaw keeps his deals. You get the goods and Slackjaw will give you a fair price.”

The man in the mask leans forwards. “And if I don’t want gold?” 

He shrugs. Slackjaw can work with that. “Slackjaw deals in favors too.” 

The man is abrupt and names his price. Slackjaw raises an eyebrow. “You sure that’s what you want? Seems like Slackjaw is getting the better end, and Slackjaw makes fair deals.” 

The mask is off before Slackjaw even registered what the man was doing. As Slackjaw stared into the face of a man condemned and should have been dead, he did the only thing he could. 

Slackjaw laughed loud and long. 

When Slackjaw calmed down, he looked into the face of _ Corvo Attano, the Royal Protector _. It all made sense now, why the Abbey was targeted. Slackjaw has a fair idea where the former Royal Protector is going next. Yes, there is profit to be made here, but more importantly a potential ally in hand. 

“Slackjaw’ll keep his side of the bargain as long as you keep yours. And he’ll keep your little secret quiet while he’s at it.” Slackjaw grins with smoke stained teeth. “Do we got a deal?” 

Corvo Attano nods. They’ve got a deal. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I didn’t mean to write so much on Slackjaw’s background. Mostly I wanted to focus on the interaction between Corvo and Slackjaw. Instead we have more on Slackjaw than we do Corvo. His POV is really fun to write though and it got away from me. Let me know what you think about him!~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Answers are sought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so I hope you enjoy. I've been buzzing with excitement to get this chapter out. I hope you all are as thrilled with where this fic is going as I am.

The thing about time travel is that you stand to lose a lot more than you thought you had. 

* * *

Corvo ends up walking away from Slackjaw unsettled. For all that he planned on integrating himself with Slackjaw, the meeting was far too much like it was the first time they met that he can’t help but wonder if anything he’s doing will matter at all. 

But it has to. It must. Corvo tells himself that the Void wouldn’t have sent him back if he had no hope of stopping the Fall before it started. 

And yet. Emily is missing. 

Missing.  _ Missing.  _ Corvo tells himself that Emily is fine. She’s just. Somewhere else. That’s all. 

Even if Campbell’s black book offered no answers. Even if Campbell thought- 

Well it doesn’t matter what Campbell thinks. Not then, not now, and not ever. Emily is fine. She has to be. 

“Emily is fine.” Corvo whispers like a prayer. A chant. “Emily is fine.” 

The only thing that changed since Corvo woke up in this time was that he died. So it has to be something that was already in motion that his death triggered that caused this change. 

He can do this. He can. He just needs to think. What happened the first time around? Corvo paces as he desperately tries to remember the details. The Loyalists haven’t even formed yet. Corvo knows that Havelock seems to be hanging onto his position by a thread, so they couldn’t have even thought about Emily at this point. And he was in Coldridge for six months, twice the time since Jessamine’s death three months ago. The amount of information he has of this section of history is pitiful. Corvo wishes he knew more about Burrow’s tenure as Lord Regent, but he didn’t think that anything beyond knowing what to fix for Emily’s reign would be useful. 

What he needs is a clue. Something, anything to give him a place or person to look into. However, Corvo doesn’t have anything that’s actually  _ useful _ . He got Slackjaw to feed him information about Emily now, but that nothing might turn up for days. Weeks, a voice that Corvo is used to ignoring whispers in the back of his mind. 

He has all the power he needs to save her. Everything but an idea of where she is. Corvo grits his teeth in frustration. He doesn’t even know what for. Himself? The situation? What use is the Mark if it can’t even tell him where Emily is? 

Corvo stops so fast that he might have fallen over if he was anyone else.  _ The Mark can’t tell me where she is, _ Corvo thinks, hope blossoming in his chest,  _ but the Outsider might be willing to lead me in the right direction. _ Corvo doesn’t bother to think that the Outsider will tell him where she is flat out. It would be too boring for the god. But the Outsider certainly wouldn’t be interested in him doing nothing at all. 

He has his path before him. The closest shrine is ten blocks away. 

Corvo Blinks.

* * *

There’s no hesitation as Corvo grabs the rune on the shrine. He may have wished to avoid the Outsider longer, but nothing can beat the incessant need to know where Emily is from ringing in his head. He senses the presence a second before the god arrives and he braces for the onslaught of questions about his Mark. 

“My dear Corvo,” The Outsider says with a smile, “this is a surprise. I was sure you’d be out looking for your charge. You tore down the Abbey with a righteous glee and yet found no answers in your crusade. Interesting that you chose to work with a criminal to seek her out. How far you’ve fallen from your position as a Royal Protector.” 

Corvo doesn’t speak, sure that there’s more coming, but the Outsider doesn’t even mention the Void Mark on his body. Corvo hadn’t even bothered to hide it in his rush to ask the god about Emily, and still not a word is spoken of it. 

“You don’t see it?” Corvo asks slowly. 

The Outsider tilts his head slightly. On a human it would be confusion. On the god, it seems like he’s deigning to let Corvo explain himself. 

“When I left the shrine yesterday, I had- been struck by pain.”  _ had my Mark fracture itself to merge with yours.  _ Corvo doesn’t say. He raises his left hand. “It changed.” 

The Outsider looks surprised. The god scrutinizes his hand and the delight on his face increases the longer the Outsider looks. The Outsider grabs his hand.

Corvo is forced to his knees with a scream. This is so much worse than when he tried to separate the Marks the first time. Then, it was like ripping his skin off. Now it feels like he’s coming apart from the inside. He’s burning and drowning and bled dry. He’s suffocating and starving and sick. He feels a million different deaths and a million different tortures. 

And all at once he’s gasping for air at the Outsider’s feet, tears in his eyes that he didn’t register crying. The Outsider looks mildly concerned, which, for the god, is tantamount to full blown panic. The god doesn’t reach out to help him as he struggles to stand, but considering the fact that even normally the god wouldn’t have bothered - and that touching is what caused this in the first place - it’s not a particularly important matter. 

When Corvo finally feels like he can speak, the Outsider at least has the tact to pretend that nothing happened when Corvo doesn’t try to explain the cause. “I came here,” Corvo starts, ignoring the past five minutes like a particularly forgetful old man, “to get those answers. Emily isn’t where I thought she was and Campbell thinks- well, he’s wrong anyways so where is she?” 

The Outsider raises an eyebrow. “I won’t tell you  _ that _ , my dear Corvo, no matter how much pain I happened to cause to you. It would be far too uninteresting, no matter how fascinating you are turning out to be.” 

Corvo latches onto the lifeline in the god’s words like a man drowning at sea. “So what  _ are _ you willing to tell me?” 

The Outsider considers him and Corvo has to wonder what the Outsider sees. Wonders at what must be whirling through the god’s mind. “The girl is safe.” The Outsider says, but the relief that crashes down on Corvo is frozen at the chill of the god’s next words. “But only for now. There are dangers in the shadows that target her. I will grant you a boon since my actions caused you harm, but only one. Your choice is a name. Ask for the one who knows where she is or ask for the one that seeks her destruction.”

It’s a choice that was never a choice at all. She’s safe for now. It has to be enough. “Who is after Emily?”

The Outsider smiles. “I have seen how this might have gone, had you lived and I have to say the parallels are  _ fascinating _ . I give you the name- Delilah.” 

Before Corvo can do more than widen his eyes as the shock and fear of hearing  _ her _ name when she shouldn’t be relevant for another fifteen years overtakes him the Outsider is gone. 

* * *

Delilah. Delilah. Delilah. 

Unlike the fairytales, saying her name three times doesn’t summon her, no matter how much Corvo wants it to be that easy. After a quick visit to Slackjaw to add searching for Delilah Copperspoon to the list, Corvo returned to his makeshift base to think. Delilah is Jessamine’s half-sister, and she certainly has cause to see Emily dead, but she didn’t begin with her plans for fifteen years. And yet, she has to be planning something now, or else the Outsider wouldn’t have bothered mentioning it. 

So something must have gone wrong. But knowing it happened once doesn’t help Corvo find Delilah  _ now _ . He’s told Slackjaw the little he knows about her past and hopefully it means that he’ll be able to find Delilah sooner, but until then he’s got his hands tied. 

No, wait. Corvo wracks his brain and remembers that Delilah was Sokolov’s student back when she was younger. Maybe Sokolov has a clue as to where she is. Speaking of the Royal Physician, Corvo should look into finding Piero. The man’s sleep darts were endlessly useful and though he can make some himself, it was originally the man’s creation. Corvo certainly has none at hand now, not after the Fall made it more practical to create bolts to kill the Void spawn rather than non functional sleep darts.

* * *

The scientist isn’t too difficult to find, but convincing him was another matter. Piero Joplin is many things, but no one should ever say the man doesn’t stick to the principles he has. It took revealing the man behind the mask to convince him that his creations were working towards a good cause. And then he had to get the man to swear not to tell anyone of his identity without his permission. 

So with a new source of ammunition secured, Corvo was forced to consider involving someone else. 

Samuel is a good man, and he might just consider helping him again. But this isn’t like when Corvo was looking to find Emily the first time. Delilah is very different kind of matter. One that can risk the man’s life far more than the Loyalists had. 

But anything for Emily. 

Not for the first time Corvo wished he came back a little later. Even when he was in the flooded district would have been a better option. At least then he would know for sure that Emily was safe. With nothing but a name and bare sparks of hope, Corvo can only pray that things won’t get worse this time. 

It’s unfair to get Samuel involved in this mess. The man is one of the few who were undeniably on his side when Corvo was framed for Jessamine’s murder. But there is no one else he would be able to trust with tasks like these. He shouldn’t drag the man into this. And yet, he can’t  _ not _ ask for his help. 

Corvo is a selfish man. He knows this and had anyone ever asked him, he would have told them so. But Corvo isn’t a cruel one, so it’s with guilt and a stubborn resolution that he goes to the boatman. 

Corvo doesn’t reveal himself until Samuel is on land and away from his boat. He’s well aware of the fright his mask causes and while it’s something he revels in from seeing on his enemies, he regrets doing this to a friend. 

A cursory look around with Dark Vision reveals that the coast is clear, so he clears his throat and lets the boatman see his mask. Samuel pales and steps back, looking to run. Corvo reaches for his face and removes his mask before Samuel can go further. 

As the recognition dawns on Samuel, Corvo looks the man in the eyes. “I need your help.” He says quietly. 

Samuel hasn’t gotten to the age he is in Dunwall by being stupid. The man looks around, much like Corvo did earlier but without the supernatural powers, and waves at him. Samuel leads him to a small shack. It’s barely enough for a single person to live in, but it’s fitting for a man who seems to live and breathe a life on the sea. 

“Sorry about the mess.” Samuel pulls out a chair for Corvo and sits on the small bed himself. “Didn’t rightly expect to be entertaining anyone, ‘specially not the Royal Protector himself. I knew there was something wrong about how the Lord Regent came into power. Wasn’t right that everyone who would have been in his way either disappeared or died.”

Even years after having his name cleared, it’s surprising how much Corvo appreciates having someone believe in his innocence. Moreso for the fact that he knows that this is what Samuel genuinely believes, otherwise the man wouldn’t have helped him the first time. 

It’s easy to smile at the boatman. The clear surprise that Samuel shows tells Corvo that the familiarity showed on his face, so he looks down at his hands for a moment and takes a moment to consider how he wants to ask for the man’s assistance. 

In the end, he should just give him the choice. “I’ve been looking for Emily, but I haven’t found her yet. However, I have heard of someone else who is looking for her, and she doesn’t want Emily alive.” 

The words induce some sympathy in the boatman, but he still says nothing so Corvo continues. “She’s- dangerous. Dangerous in a way that I can’t say that I could protect you from.” He doesn’t bother to explain when he has the Outsider’s Mark clear on his hand. He suspects that no one can see his Void Mark over it. Corvo never bothered to cover it the first time around and he won’t start now that he knows he doesn’t have to. “But I need someone I’d be able to trust to get me to and from different locations when I need a quick escape.” 

Samuel is silent, taking in all Corvo has told him. When the man finally speaks its with a tone that says he’s already made his decision. “Of all people, why me? I don’t remember meeting you before and there’s got to be plenty of other options.” 

Corvo deliberately looks at the Mark on his hand, leading the other’s gaze there. “Let’s just say I had a gut feeling you were the man for the job.” 

“Well,” Samuel says with a bit of disbelief, “I suppose I’m going to be out and about more often. Where do you need to go?” 

Corvo lets out a breath of relief. He doesn’t know what he would have done had the boatman refused. “I need to talk to Sokolov. He has some answers I’m looking for and I’m hoping he’s willing to give them to me. Barring that, I’m going to need to take him with me. I’ve heard that he’s going to be at his residence at Kaldwin’s Bridge tomorrow and it’ll be much easier to reach him there than in the Tower.”

Samuel leans back. “Kaldwin’s bridge, eh? Not gonna be easy getting you out of there with the lights shining on the sea at night. Might be easier getting you in if you go in daylight though.”

“You let me worry about that.” Corvo tells him. “Just be ready to pick me up. I’ll meet you here tomorrow an hour before sundown.” 

Samuel nods. “Gotta say, never thought I’d be helping to save an Empress.” 

Corvo goes quiet. Looking at a man who doesn’t know of everything he did to help Corvo the first time, Corvo is struck with a long ignored feeling of loneliness. “No, I suppose you didn’t.” 

Corvo Blinks his way out of the shack to the apartment, suddenly unable to remain a second longer. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? Who saw Delilah coming? I've been planning thing since I first started this fic. This is the thing I want to happen. I saw plenty of Whaler!Corvo fics, but no fics where it's Corvo facing Delilah for Emily instead of just finding out about Daud saving Emily. 
> 
> Comment and talk about this with me! I wanna know what you guys think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corvo is flailing for a lifeline in the hell that is waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a longer chapter than normal. Probably will never happen again. Enjoy!

The thing about time travel is that it doesn’t mean you actually have a plan.

* * *

Nothing. 

A month since the Outsider gave him Delilah’s name and not so much of a whisper of her presence was found. Sokolov was of no help. Corvo frowned at the memory. Now that he knew Delilah was plotting something, the assumption of his death was his greatest advantage against her. If she discovered that he was alive, Corvo was certain that she wouldn’t let him go - not with his prior position as the Royal Protector. 

Which made it very difficult to get Sokolov to tell him anything at all. Without the Tyvian knowing who he was, Sokolov was determined to keep things to himself. The bottle of King’s Street brandy Corvo brought as a bribe was the only thing that got the man to relent at all and Corvo suspects that the only reason it even did that much was because the man has no clue what happened to Delilah after she abandoned her apprenticeship. 

So Corvo was left to his own devices and in all his restlessness he made things as difficult for the Lord Regent as possible. As much as Corvo would love to rip the man off his stolen throne, without Emily at hand to reclaim it, Corvo would cause more harm than good. 

The Boyles would have been a good target, but it would have been too big a hit to the man’s finances. Not to mention that Esma Boyle’s motivations for funding the man were understandable. Corvo didn’t want to kill her; he certainly didn’t want to hand her to Brisby either. It was only because he had no other option to spare her life that he resorted to handing her over, pressing a knife to her chest. If he couldn’t feel how her breathing changed, Corvo would have believed that she was unconscious the whole time. 

Now, with no escape available to her and no guarantee that Burrows wouldn’t just find another source of funds, Corvo left her alone. Instead, he investigated the man’s supporters. 

Campbell’s black book finally came in handy. The former High Overseer was many things, but he certainly wasn’t stupid. Ambitious as the man was, it was no surprise that he kept tabs on possible threats and weaknesses of the Lord Regent. 

There were no rumors of a Masked Felon this time. More experienced, more powerful, and not fresh out of Coldridge Prison’s tender care, Corvo breezed through any security and made sure not to let a soul catch sight of him. It was actually sad to watch how, even as more guards were posted at all homes as his infamy spread, he was still able to steal anything that caught his eye along with any incriminating documents. 

Documents which he made copies of before slipping the copies in the original’s place. It was convenient for him for people to think that their homes were invaded by a thief rather than a man after the evidence of their wrongdoings. He made sure to only steal _ after _ having gotten the time to make the copies he needed to, but it seemed paranoia was spreading amongst them anyways. He found fewer and fewer indications that his targets were involved with Burrows at all. More than once, he’s found that there were scraps of paper in the fireplaces burned beyond readability. 

The only fortunate thing was that no one seemed to connect him to Campbell’s branding. Corvo still felt faintly embarrassed remembering the impulsive actions he took to render everyone in the Abbey unconscious. He’s never liked the Abbey, less after getting his Mark, and it hit rock bottom with the Fall, as erroneous it was to blame them for the Outsider’s death. Doesn’t change the fact that they would have jumped at the chance to kill the Outsider and cause the Fall regardless. 

Teague Martin was… Well, Corvo was conflicted watching the man in the Abbey, but ultimately just left him unconscious with the others. The man had yet to become the person he was when Corvo met him, and even then the man met a rather ignoble death, poisoned by the man he worked with. Hopefully this time the man might make better decisions. 

Unfortunately, interfering with the Lord Regent’s plans became less effective as time went on. Within two weeks it got to the point where the last three places he hit for information were cleared of anything useful. Bits and pieces of paper in the fireplaces told Corvo what happened to them. Instead, Corvo decided to lie low for a time while he waited for another opportunity to strike. 

In the meantime, Corvo occupied himself with discovering what exactly he could do. He was just as strong and agile as he was in the Fall, and all his abilities remained intact. His tight control over them was hard won as his powers grew, but it was a requirement when he had to use the bare minimum necessary to prevent drawing too many Beasts to him at once. 

Corvo counted himself fortunate that they were as strong as they were because he doubted they would get stronger at all. Or if they could, he has no idea how to go about doing so. The runes and other artifacts he took from the Abbey and other places were unable to affect anything but the Mark on his hand. Even that was mostly just strengthening it somehow. Corvo could tell the runes were giving him the ability to do _ something _, but he had no clue what it was despite his efforts to find out. 

Whatever the fragment of the Void was doing to the Outsider’s Mark, it left him strangely attuned to the workings of the runes he used on it and the bone charms that he gathered. Attuned enough to make Corvo curious about trying to make his own. 

Corvo was never really all that interested in black magic. While he _ is _ invested in increasing his abilities, its only to a point. He grew his abilities to a point where he could achieve what he needed and then stopped until he needed more. It never really occurred to him to wonder where runes and bone charms came from or how they were made. Although he could feel their power, it was different this time as he collected them.

Bone charms felt like the task they were made to do, but the more he discovered about the bone charms he found, the more displeased he was by them. One of his favored bone charms made it easier to strangle a man to unconsciousness, but the task it was meant for was to suffocate them entirely. An incredible amount of Void energy was just sitting in the charm uselessly and it frustrated him that he didn’t notice it for years. 

Corvo could _ feel _ how the pathways in the charm led the Void that flowed through it to dead ends and it grated on his nerves as he felt the unused energy buzzing in frustration. It was reminiscent of the sensation of being given the order to fill a bucket with water from a well only to realize that you couldn’t use anything but a single arm and a ladle. 

At some point Corvo was so frustrated with the sensation that he flung all his charms off his person. Upon which, his new Mark acted out and suddenly blasted them all with the Void. When he took another look at them, the flow in the charms were greatly corrected and the charms became more powerful as a result. 

Unfortunately that left most of his charms far more deadly than he’d like. Case in point, he couldn’t put anyone in a chokehold with that charm on anymore less he end up killing them accidentally. Of course, with the realization that he was able to “fix” his bone charms, he made the leap of thought to making his own, this time for the purposes he needed. 

Corvo broke into a slaughterhouse and stole the bones that caught his eye. He had no clue how to go about making them and it wasn’t like he had anyone he could ask about it so he went with what felt right. 

Well, technically Granny Rags was an option, but judging by how the witch tried to cook Slackjaw into a soup the last time he saw her, Corvo doesn’t want to know what the woman’s charms are like. 

His first attempt at a bone charm mostly involved carving a whalebone into the shape he wanted the energy to flow and then filling it with the Void energy from his mark. Oddly enough, it wasn’t purely the Void that filled the charm, but also something that Corvo suspects was made by him judging by how he was exhausted from the effort. 

That first attempt exploded the moment he tried to use it.

His second attempt went much better. This time he controlled how much he put in it. That one worked. For an instant. Then it simply didn’t have the power to work anymore. 

It took a lot more experiments before he realized he needed to first carve the charm, then keep in mind the intent for the charm while carefully imbuing the energy through the path of the flow. Each charm he made took all his concentration and left him too tired to so much as think afterwards. 

Naturally, it became his nightly routine to make one before bed. 

Runes were a bit stranger. Corvo still can’t really explain what they feel like. The closest thing he has to a proper description was that they felt like potential. 

He accidentally made a rune in his experiments with the bone charms. He overflooded a single charm with as much energy as possible to see what would happen. It wasn’t a proper rune because it couldn’t _ hold _ that energy. He repeated the experiment with a bone intended to become a rune and was successful. To a point. When Corvo tried to absorb the runes, they just turned back into his magic. It was rather like drinking a spiritual remedy. Corvo suspects that his runes might only power up others rather than himself. There is probably a ritual of some sort that would allow him to create runes for his own use, but Corvo has no idea where to start with something like that and given how dangerous bone charms were, Corvo left the thought alone.

And so another two weeks passed.

* * *

Slackjaw grinned as he appraised the latest goods that Corvo brought him. After the first time he was shocked by the amount Corvo managed to grab, Slackjaw rolled with the punches and just started tackling the piles of ill gotten gains. 

“Better score than usual tonight.” The man drawled. 

Corvo shrugged. The noble he hit was much more an asshole than normal. This one took a particular pleasure in making young commoners “disappear”. Finding the poor girls’ remains in a secret room in the man’s basement meant that Corvo took great joy in robbing the man of everything he owned and then exposing his deeds to the public. And if the man was left unconscious, blindfolded, and strung up naked in his courtyard. Well. Corvo certainly knew nothing about what happened to him. So sad to hear that the man’s balls got ripped off by grieving families. Too bad one of the girls was the sister of one of his guards. 

Slackjaw took his eyes off the haul and looked at Corvo a bit apologetically. “Got nothin’ for ya on Delilah or Emily, but my men are keeping an ear out.”

Corvo couldn’t help but slump a little in disappointment. Though he knows that there’s probably not much news, he couldn’t help but get his hopes up every time he visited the gang boss. 

“Now, that’s not to say I have nothing to give you at all.” Slackjaw continued. “Way I see it, you’ve given me more than enough to pay for the search, and I figure this tidbit might be interesting enough to you for some of the rest o’ it. Word on the street is that Daud’s men are active again.”

Corvo straightened in surprise. Corvo never really knows what to feel about the man these days. On one hand, the assassin killed Jessamine. On the other, Corvo let him go once already. Still on one hand, the man’s actions eventually led to the Fall. Weighing against that was the fact that the man only did this with a restless spirit so killing him this time would certainly do no one any favors. Corvo’s mostly just took those conflicting feelings and threw them to the back of his mind. It helped that, as far as he could tell, the Whalers went entirely to the ground leaving not a hint of their presence in the city. He was sure the group had taken up other contracts last time so he was confused as to why Daud killing Corvo instead of Jessamine changed this. 

Perhaps sensing that the information caught Corvo’s attention, Slackjaw gave him a sly smirk. “See, Daud’s men have been seen slipping in and out of heavily guarded buildings. More than once an alarm has been sounded to the sight of them fleeing the locations. I don’t got a clue what they’re after, because no one is ever found dead after they’re chased away. If they’ve taken anything, the people who work at the places sure ain’t talkin’. Figure’d with what he did and all, you’d be mighty interested to know he’s still hangin’ around.”

“Probably not for the reason you’re thinking of, but it is helpful.” Corvo said, mind whirling. 

Slackjaw scrunched his face. “Never will get used to hearing you speak with that mask on. You sound like the ghost people think you are.” 

Corvo rolled his eyes, not that Slackjaw could see. The man gave him a pointed look anyways so he supposed the feeling got across regardless. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Slackjaw shooed him off. “That’s all I got for you tonight. Deal’s still on, I’ll keep my rates low and make sure to look into leave a couple stashes of elixir lyin’ around randomly on the streets. Now get.” 

The man didn’t have to tell him twice. He needed to get more whalebone anyways. On the way to the slaughterhouse, Corvo ended up thinking about Daud. The man is one of the key causes of the Fall, but Corvo has no answer on how to stop him. 

Or rather, the only solution he came up with is something he really doesn’t want to consider at all. 

Corvo doesn’t want to know the man who killed Jessamine. After seeing the regret in the assassin’s eyes as Corvo slipped off the man’s blade, the realization that the man would actually spend the rest of his life _ and _ afterlife looking for absolution left him rather resentful. Even if the man was cause for Corvo’s loss of life here, it doesn’t change the fact that the man’s target was _ her _ and not him. Corvo is perfectly happy thinking the man would suffer under the crushing guilt as he should. 

Corvo doesn’t _ want _ to help the man get over causing Jessamine’s downfall. 

And yet, it’s looking more and more like he doesn’t have a choice. 

Corvo doesn’t know when the Outsider got it into his head to try to leave the Void. He can’t tell the god exactly how everything would fall apart if he followed through with his plans. But Corvo _ can _ influence Daud now. His only real hope is changing the man enough that thoughts of killing the Outsider and essentially pinning all the sorrow of the world on the god wouldn’t actually occur to him.

Corvo privately feels like the man is much more stupid than he thought. Humans are always going to end up causing their own misery, god or no. Daud really shouldn’t try to blame someone else just to feel less awful about how his life turned out. 

He doesn’t have the time to look for Daud though. Even if he already knows where the man’s base is. And how to get there. And that showing his face would probably be enough to get a talk out of it. 

(Corvo is going to put off seeing the man again until he _ absolutely has to _, world to save or no world to save.)

Delilah is a much more important threat right now anyways. And until he can actually _ find _ any clues on the woman- 

Corvo stared at the ship before him. He’s finally reached the Rothwild slaughterhouse, but his goal of gathering more whalebones slips his mind.

No, Corvo finds that he can’t tear his gaze away from the sight of the _ Delilah _ pulling into the docks. It might be a coincidence. It’s probably a coincidence. But it's the best clue he’s gotten since he started his hunt for the woman that he finds himself hoping it’ll lead to something anyways. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a change from canon: Daud dies in the process of escaping from the Eyeless cult and reuniting with Billie. Instead, Daud haunts her and implies that in order for him to rest in peace, the Outsider needs to die. 
> 
> Daud. Blaming the god for your problems doesn’t solve anything. Humans cause chaos wherever they are. It’s the curse of free will. 
> 
> And! We're finally seeing some hints of Daud in the background! Maybe I can write his POV soon!
> 
> Also smh Corvo you are not dealing well with time travel at all. Face your problems man. 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt is on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I hope you're all enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. For some reason this thing just keeps coming. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The thing about time travel is that coming from the future doesn’t mean you know everything about the past. 

* * *

It was excruciating to wait as the crew disembarked from the  _ Delilah _ . Corvo found that although Corldridge was filled with actual torture, somehow hiding as he waited for an opportunity to sneak onboard the ship was worse. The minutes felt like hours, time slowing to a crawl. 

Once nothing more than a few lookouts were left on the ship, Corvo slipped past them and headed straight for the Captain’s Quarters. 

Rummaging through the man’s belongings turned up a journal with scant bits of information. Corvo had thought the captain would have named the ship, but of course it could never be that easy. Most of the recent entries were standard. 

Corvo’s eyes narrowed as he caught a complaint about the owner of the slaughterhouse, mentioning that the man might own the ship, but he’s the captain. Corvo flipped to the front of the book. 

_ “.... ship is a good one. Large and well suited for whaling with a few modifications. Almost wish I was able to buy the ship myself, but who am I kidding? Only reason the ship was sold for so little was because Rothwild knows Timish. Something about the name.”  _

_ “...complaining about the name again. Rothwild always says he’ll change it but then finds that his attention is needed elsewhere. Asked him why he wanted it changed. Said that Timish named it after an old love. Apparently, Timish seemed terrified of her. Something about the woman scared him enough to sell the ship instead of scrapping it when she left him.”  _

Corvo pocked the book and left, deep in thought. Timish. He knows that name. Corvo’s heard that practically half of Dunwall wants the man dead, but more importantly, that Arnold Timish is a staunch supporter of the Lord Regent. Corvo’s been planning on waiting a while longer before hitting someone as high profile as Timish, but it looks like it doesn’t matter anymore. 

A quick glance at the skyline told Corvo he had enough time to make it to Samuel’s before sundown. It made Corvo frown. He found a solid lead to Delilah. He has enough time to even follow it before the end of the night. The situation is working out too well. With his luck something is about to go horribly wrong. 

With that thought Corvo made a mental note to look out for traps. He doesn’t think Delilah knows he’s coming, but better safe than sorry. 

* * *

“Alright there Corvo?” Samuel asked as he drove his boat. 

Corvo shrugged. He made an effort to appear calm. If Samuel could tell that he was on edge, then the new lead must be messing him up more than he thought. 

A thought occurred to him. “This one is dangerous. It’ll lead me to the person I’m looking for. Don’t wait for me, I’ll find my own way back. Make sure to leave as soon as I’m on land.”

Samuel was silent. It was odd enough for the chatty boatman that Corvo looked at him. There was a grave expression on the man’s face as he spoke. “You be careful Corvo. That little girl is still out there somewhere alone. She might not know to wait for you, but you gotta come back to find her.” 

A startling rush of affection flushed through Corvo before he nodded, a small smile hidden behind his mask. He was grateful that the man was so accepting. Corvo suspects that he would have long gone mad had Samuel not been so adept at reading his moods. 

When Corvo managed to reach a rooftop after landing, he couldn’t help but look back for the small boat. A small pang of loss hit him when he didn’t see the boatman waiting. He hadn’t realized he grew so dependent on Samuel’s presence. 

Corvo shook the thought off. He needs to focus now. Timish was involved with Delilah, so even if she left him years ago, there’s a possibility she has some safeguards for whatever plot she set. If Timish is still haunted by her influence even now, he must think she has a way of knowing what he does. 

Unfortunately, security isn’t as loose he’d like. Corvo found himself freezing time more than once to get past several guards. Had he only just gained his abilities he would have had to drink several spiritual remedies by now. As it is, Corvo just takes ruthless advantage of his incredibly large mana pool. And with a handmade bone charm for both expanding his pool and increasing his recovery, he doesn’t worry about running low on mana anytime soon. 

And yet, that isn’t even the most upsetting thing he notices as he reaches his destination. 

The Legal District is practically barren. 

There’s a clamor as Corvo watches as a perfectly healthy family is removed from their residence. The guards don’t look happy about what they’re doing either, save for a couple who appear to be in charge of the entire operation. A grimace settles on Corvo’s face. He hadn’t expected it to be this bad. 

“Psst! Over here!” 

The whisper did what is was intended to and caught Corvo’s attention. Cursing in his mind, Corvo looks over at an apartment nearby which holds a noble waving him over. He hadn’t realized there was still someone living so close to Timish. Corvo mentally kicks himself for not checking with Dark Vision. He thought he broke the habit of holding back on his powers. Clearly he needs to be more careful. 

Perhaps it was a bit petty of him, but Corvo took some glee in Blinking inside and startling the man when he turned around. 

“Well, you certainly appear to be the right man for the job.” The man mutters to himself. Corvo taps his foot impatiently and gestures for the man to go on with it. “Right, well judging by your appearance, you’re the ghost reputed to be the one stealing from the more unsavory nobility. As you can see, I’m not too terribly concerned about being targeted, not when Timish is nearby. I’ve heard the man is planning on evicting me next. You can understand why I’m have an investment on getting rid of him first. I have a plan to cause him to fall victim to one of his own eviction notices. A bit of ironic justice if I may. The problem is I need someone to carry it out. There’s a reward in it for you if you accept.” 

Corvo lets the silence hang in the air as he pretends to consider. The man looks unnerved by the way he’s staring at him. When Corvo finally nods there’s relief evident on the man's face as he hands over the false eviction notice and explains his plan. 

The plan is well thought out and even takes into account the welfare of Timish’s servants and guards. Corvo doesn’t remember this man from Emily’s court, so he has to be one of the ones who fell victim to the plague before Emily was coronated. Yet, he looks healthy now, so he must have been evicted before hand. 

“Your name.” Corvo’s warped voice clearly unnerves the man. He stammers that he doesn’t see why Corvo needs to know that but eventually introduces himself as Wiles Roland. Corvo makes a mental note to remember him. Should the man live to see Emily’s reign, he would make a worthwhile supporter. It’s rare to see a character like his in the nobles of Dunwall. 

Now with a plan of action, Corvo infiltrates Timish’s estate. The guards are easy enough to avoid, and stealing everything worthwhile is even easier. The sheer wasteful opulence disgusts him as he makes his way through the building. All of it was clearly ill gotten and the audiographs and notes he see scattered in the rooms just reveal more evidence of Timish’s self interests.

By the time Corvo reaches Timish’s room, the man is asleep. Corvo is mildly disappointed. He would have liked to frighten the man before taking his key and swapping the documents. 

Corvo flicks his Dark Vision on as he leaves and his heart- he’s startled to recognize a rather familiar figure in the next room. Corvo feels panic bubbling to the surface as lightning fast thoughts flicker through his mind. It’s only when he notices that the figure is  _ too still _ that he manages to calm down.

Corvo braces himself as he enters. While it’s not exactly a surprise to see a statue of Delilah, it’s certainly not pleasant. This must be how she kept an eye on Timish. 

“So you’re the one looking for me.” And Corvo didn’t really expect the statue to talk to him, but the confirmation that she doesn’t know who he is is relieving. 

He hesitates, unsure if he should speak. Thankfully, Delilah doesn’t seem interested in whatever he had to say. “I don’t know why you’re so determined to find me, and frankly I don’t care. This is your only warning. Stay out of my way, or I’ll remove you as a problem  _ permanently.  _ Arnold Timish isn’t really a matter of concern for me anymore, I’m done with him, so you’ve managed to avoid irritating me for the time being.  _ Don’t _ change that or you’ll regret it.”

“What are you trying to accomplish?” Corvo asks, trying to wheedle a bit more information out of her. “Clearly you have it out for Emily Kaldwin but why do you want her dead?”

Surprise briefly crosses her face. “You don’t even know what I’m planning and yet you’re determined to save her?” A sneer. “If all you’re concerned about is her safety then I’ll tell you this, I don’t want her dead. Take care not to step on my toes again. I’ll make sure it’s the last mistake you’ll ever make.” The statue goes still. 

Corvo’s lips tighten. He hadn’t gotten nearly enough out of her. And why doesn’t Delilah want Emily dead? She would need to be for Delilah to take the throne. It’s a quick search of the room that give him his answer, and it leaves him very cold. 

_ When Pretty Emily woke one day _

_ She saw the world a different way _

_ Her eyes now looked with a stranger’s guile _

_ Her dainty mouth smiled a stranger’s smile _

_ Her hands now worked the stranger’s wrath _

_ Her feet now walked a stranger’s path _

_ Emily fed, another grew stronger _

_ The stranger’s cravings drove her onward,  _

_ And no one who looked on Emily’s face _

_ Ever guessed who ruled in Emily’s place. _

* * *

As Corvo makes a final sweep through the estate, he notices the guards and servants taking some valuables as well. Clearly no one is overly fond of the man, and as they noticed the absence of some of the more obvious valuables in the building, they’re taking the opportunity to benefit. Corvo doesn’t really mind. Instead, he just leaves a note near a servant warning them that the smell isn’t actually the plague. The news spreads quickly and almost all the people in the building sans Timish is near an exit in a few minutes. 

One disgusting bag dropped into the ventilation later and Corvo watches a rather entertaining scene of Timish getting arrested. It only succeeds in distracting his thoughts from panic momentarily. Somehow, Corvo manages to get to Roland and receive his reward before fleeing the area. 

It’s only when Corvo reaches the apartment he’s squatting in that he lets the fright overtake him.

Corvo presses a hand against his too silent chest and struggles to find breath as he curls up on the floor. The thought that Emily could be  _ possessed _ for the rest of her life and for him to have never known what happened to her-

Corvo  _ knows _ how awful possession is. He’s felt the helplessness and despair when he had to take control of someone to escape from one place or another. The problem with possessing humans has never been running out of life force like for animals. No, the issue was that possessing humans left Corvo intimately familiar with how monstrous his targets viewed him. 

It was just  _ so easy  _ to take control of other people. With just a thought he bypassed everything that could possibly be a threat to him. His targets had no hope of ever fighting him. It never felt like he was in someone else’s body because when possessing them he took their familiarity with their bodies too. It was as if  _ they  _ were their own invader. It’s why Corvo left their bodies the moment he could. He was always more careful with the ones he had to possess. The guilt involved in the action demanded he do it. 

But Delilah wouldn’t be satisfied with a few minutes. She would have taken control of Emily for the rest of her life and she might have even reveled in causing Emily more pain than strictly necessary. The thought made Corvo gag and tear the mask off his face. Nothing but bile comes out. Corvo’s mildly grateful that he hadn’t eaten much lately before the revulsion at what caused him to vomit comes back. 

How had Delilah been stopped last time? What exactly happened to protect Emily from her? At least when Emily was overthrown fifteen years later, Delilah didn’t bother with the subtle plot. Was it because she didn’t want to risk being stopped again? Whatever occurred, Corvo’s not going to risk it happening once more. 

The worst thing is that this happened once and Corvo had no idea. Once more, a Royal Protector unable to protect his charge from the threats directed at her. It’s a bitter thought. Corvo finds himself fervently grateful for whoever saved her the first time, even as he forces himself to regulate his breathing. Focusing on the simple action allows him to get his thoughts in order. 

Emily is in danger. From something he might not be ( _ had not been _ ) able to protect her from. Corvo has no idea what became of Delilah last time, but she’ll never stop and he can’t take the risk that she’ll try to take over the throne again when he’s been changing so much. 

When Corvo finally finds her, he’ll make sure to end it before it gets that far. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Corvo's bad habit of not using Dark vision as often as he should has come back to bite him. Oh Corvo. 
> 
> And Corvo finally discovers what Delilah's planning and nearly has a heart attack over it. Or would if he, you know, had a heart (thank you Outsider (NOT)) 
> 
> What do you all think about this chapter? Did I do Corvo's suffering justice? I feel like it was a bit short, but Corvo clearly doesn't want to so much as think about it. 
> 
> I have no clue what the next chapter will be. I'm hoping it'll be a Daud interlude but he's being a bit stubborn. Chances are unfortunately low. As for when... I might be able to eck out another chapter in 24 hours. Don't get your hopes up.
> 
> Leave a comment and I'll reply when I can!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude: Billie Lurk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like you guys get the chapter after all! 
> 
> I wanted another Corvo chapter, but Billie was determined to share her part. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It’s exhilarating. Blood is pumping through her veins and her body _ moves _just like it’s meant to. Her whaler mask is a familiar comfort on her face and her breathing is steady. Years of familiarity with the Outsider’s powers lets her transverse across the rooftops with barely a thought. She has her target in sight and her crew at her back.

This is what she lives for. 

The Royal Protector is a complication, but not much of one. The Whalers are the best. Nothing can keep them from accomplishing their job. They, and by extension _ she _, is unstoppable. 

Thomas engages Attano with Lena and they keep him occupied enough for the rest of them to get close. Rulfio is the one who Pulls the Royal Protector out of the way. 

Daud’s got a clear shot at the target. 

And everything goes wrong.

The girl somehow gets free of Aedan’s grip and he’s gone without her. She stumbles into Rulfio and he’s distracted long enough for the Royal Protector to get free. Attano charges between the Empress and Daud. He falls to Daud’s blade. 

A scream rings in the air and suddenly she can hear nothing else. But she sees. 

Daud, unshakable, undefeatable Daud hesitates. She’s never seen him pull back like that. Never seen him falter. Among all the whalers she knows Daud best and seeing him like this fills her with disbelief. She reads the shift of his shoulders, the tilt of his head, follows his gaze. He’s going to call for a retreat. 

And suddenly she’s furious. 

Just as the scream filled her ears, red colors her sight. Attano is out of the way, the girl is in their grasp, and he wants to call off the job?_ The biggest job of their lives. _ The Whalers _ always _gets their mark. 

Her body moves before she really processes her choice. She transverses behind the Empress and completes her task. Blood is spilt. 

The red red red liquid is endless. It overflows and she’s drowning in a sea of blood. She struggles for air and breaches the surface, crawling onto land as she coughs out the copper taste from her mouth. 

Beneath her, the ground shifts and what she thought to be cobblestone supporting her reveals itself to be a swarm of rats. She thinks she shouts but she still can’t hear. She tries to call out for the Whalers. Her crew. Her family. The rats find her face and start eating her from the inside. 

She can feel them all as they dive into her stomach, and her body is no longer her own. She feels bloated as the rats drive her into the city. Her hands turn into rat claws and she feels her teeth warp. She spits poison from her lips and splits into many. 

Men, women and children have faces twisted in fear and horror as she consumes them all. She swallows their meat and chews on their bones. She leaves naught but death and destruction behind her. Her victims blend together. 

The red red red fills her vision once more and she’s staring up into a man covered in it. He looks tasty. He runs and shouts and it does nothing because she can follow the red red red that makes up what she is. 

He’s lead her to a (familiar) group that opposes her. They run and scream and shout and cry. 

They’re delicious. 

* * *

Billie Lurk’s eyes snap open and she twists on her bed to vomit the little she ate for dinner over the side. There’s a scream muffled somewhere inside her that can’t get out. Even when she has nothing left in her stomach to lose she retches and gags. There are tears in her eyes. It’s a regular occurrence these past few months. 

She reaches for a cloth to clean her face and discards the acrid remains of her dinner from the bucket that found a home by her bed. She grabs her mask, supplies, and uniform and leaves the base. 

She wears no blade. 

Her destination is a small civilian area nearby. The elixirs in her bag are a comforting weight on her back. Billie avoids the few whalers she sees on guard duty. 

She’s avoided everyone since then. 

It’s not like she could speak. Billie lost her words when the Empress lost her life. They were all waiting for her to explain why. Why she went and killed the Empress. She feels their gazes and the heavy weight of what she caused to the city burdens her. There’s nothing she can say that would measure up. 

When Billie reaches the district she braces herself for the boy that always reacted to her appearance with a tackle. In the depression that suffused through the population after Empress Jessamine’s assassination, he was one of the few children that still looked to life with energy. 

(He’s nothing like the-)

He’s not there. She feels off kilter at his absence and looks for him. He insisted on bringing her home once. Said that he wants her to know that she can visit anytime. The place is barricaded from the outside. 

Billie breaks in from the window above, desperately thinking _ no please no. _She sees the boy’s family dead, taken by the plague. She sees the boy himself by the door, too still to be alive, a note in his hand. It’s a simple thing. Wondering when she’ll visit again. Hoping she can bring the medicine to save them. 

She doesn’t even know his name. He wouldn’t give it if she wouldn’t talk herself. 

She gets up and leaves. (bodies in her wake)

The medicine goes to another family nearby. She doesn’t do anything more than leave the bag next to one of them before she leaves. 

The base is noisy when she returns. High pitched laughter fills the air and she hears the stampede of energetic little feet. 

Billie transverses as fast as she can away from the sounds. Her room is too close. She goes to the roof. 

She doesn’t know how long she stays hidden up there. A few guards spot her, but don’t approach. Long after the sun sets, long after quiet has settled upon the base, she finally moves and returns to her room. 

There’s a once hot meal waiting for her on the bed. She moves it to the side, uninterested. Billie lies on her bed and stares at the ceiling. Waiting for the nightmares to take her again. 

* * *

Thomas is at her side when she wakes up. He’s rubbing a hand on her back as she spits up bile. He pushes a loaf of bread and a cup of water into her hands and disposes of her vomit. She tries to put them down, but he gives her a look until she at least takes a sip and a bite. She can only finish half. Thomas always was soft hearted. 

“We have a job.” Thomas says when he sees she won’t eat anymore. She tenses and can feel the food trying to make its way back up. “Information gathering. The new face in the city is gathering attention. More importantly it’s interfering in our affairs. With whoever they are stealing from the nobles so often, security’s gone up. Most of Burrow’s loyal supporters have taken to disposing of sensitive information, keeping us from discovering what Burrows is doing. Considering how we last heard that he might be organizing a hunt for us, it's a dangerous time to be blind to his actions.” 

Billie relaxes as he explains. This is something she can do. She’s useless as a fighter as she is now. 

“There’s something I want you to see something before we go.” There’s an expression on Thomas’ face that she’s never seen before. It almost makes her want to refuse, but she follows anyways. 

He leads her to the training room, picks up a blade and shoves it into her grip. Billie tries to release it immediately but he doesn’t let her. He strikes and her body moves in long practiced sword stances. 

The next few minutes are a blur as they exchange blows, but as soon as she registers what she’s doing she falters. He takes the opening and she’s down. 

Their breathing is heavy in the otherwise silent room. She can feel the other whalers watching them, judging. Billie can’t bring herself to meet any of their eyes. 

“You’re not the only one who regrets that job.” Thomas speaks, the truth of his words evident in his voice. “Look at us. You haven’t gone anywhere other than your room since then. _ Look at us _.” 

His voice is compelling, and her gaze comes up almost unwillingly. No one wears their masks around base anymore for fear of scaring- But the lack of mask just makes the exhaustion more obvious. Thomas is right, there’s not a whaler in sight that doesn’t look even slightly impacted by what Billie did. 

“We all had a part in what happened. Most of us didn’t take part of the action, but everyone feels the weight of what we did to the city.” 

“What _ I did _.” The words come from a raspy voice that Billie has to take a moment to recognize as her own. “Daud knew better. He was going to signal for a retreat. He was going to call off the job. Had I just trusted him-” She cuts off the rush of thoughts from spilling out of her. “... This is my fault. This is my responsibility. I was the one who chose to continue with the job. I was the one to kill the Empress.” 

There’s a gasp from behind her and Billie spins around in dread. Finn is easier to focus on. The kid looks uneasy and at a loss. Billie feel for him, she’s at a loss too. It’s the girl next to him that her gaze snaps to next. Emily Kaldwin’s wide brown eyes are staring at hers. She can’t look away. 

Thomas shifts behind her, a bad habit of his when something he doesn’t expect happens. At least he didn’t lead the girl to her on purpose. 

Billie closes her eyes, kneels and bows her head. 

She might have been isolating herself from the Whalers as much as she could but she wasn’t stupid. For all that the screaming never stopped in her dreams, she can hear the whispers in the halls perfectly well. No one told Emily Kaldwin who killed her mother. They all tried to make her stay with them even a little bit better after discovering they couldn’t hand her off until a few days after the job instead of a few hours. 

Emily Kaldwin was a complication. She wormed her way into the hearts of many of Billie’s family. No one was willing to give the girl up to the Pendletons and the Golden Cat. Billie doesn’t know if the suspicions that fell on the Lord Regent with Corvo Attano’s death was a blessing or a curse. On one hand, Emily was spared the fate of a puppet ruler. On the other hand, she was an unignorable presence in the base. 

Up until now, Billie’s avoided so much as being within hearing range of the girl, Daud delegating Billie’s tasks to Thomas instead. But Billie has always known that the girls judgement would eventually fall upon her. 

“There is nothing I can say that would make things right.” It’s barely a whisper, but it rings loud in the tense silence in the air. “I had no good reason to kill your mother. I should have listened to Daud. I was a fool. I regret what I did. And even if it means nothing, I am sorry.” 

Emily walks up to her, little feet falling into Billie’s vision. Billie braces herself for the anger. She remembers being ten and full of fury and indignation. She had hated the nobles of Dunwall for ruining her peaceful life. It’s why she followed Daud back then, before the Whalers were a thing. He was strong and she wanted to be just as strong.

“Daud said that he was going to make me Empress.” The calm in the words are such a surprise that Billie looks up at the girl before her. “I was mad at him because of- what he did. He said he was sorry too. He promised to spend the rest of his life making up for his mistakes and that once I was on the throne he would let me decide his fate.” 

“...If that is what he told you then he will keep his word.” Billie slowly says. “And as his second in command, and the one that struck the final blow, that vow is mine as well.”

“You haven’t been much of one then.” Emily says with surprise on her face. “I haven’t seen you around at all. Daud said he was working on finding a way to prove Burrows hired him to- kill mother.”

The innocence in the words hits Billie hard. No, she hasn’t really been there for Daud, too caught up in her own misery. She’s gone on the few jobs that have been assigned to her, but mostly she was left to her own devices. She had thought that he didn’t trust her to act alone anymore, but was he waiting for her to come to him? The thought feels her with guilt. 

“I- You will see me around more often.” 

Emily nods, satisfied. “Good. Corvo always said that actions say more than words. If you’re really sorry you can help Daud more. He seems sad sometimes. I think he misses you.” Emily turns to Finn and starts dragging him behind her while talking about a game of some sort.

Billie doesn’t know if she feels like laughing or crying. She stands and looks back at Thomas. He raises an eyebrow at her and gestures in the direction of Daud’s office. The veneer of nonchalance is thin, but it’s enough. 

Billie goes to Daud. They should talk. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Billie is pretty messed up. She's also a very unreliable narrator and doesn't know as much about what's going on with the Whalers as she thinks she does. 
> 
> And Emily is with the Whalers! Hands up for anyone who's actually surprised about that! But in all honesty I hope I made it clear how she ended up with them. Essentially because Corvo died, more people were suspicious that he wasn't actually the one who killed the Empress and that it was Burrows bid for power. Burrows was able to avoid it but he couldn't arrange for Emily to be taken to the Golden Cat for a few days because of it. There's a bit more to the incident of how Emily stayed with the Whalers, and I'll actually have that in the story in the future, but Corvo's death is the reason it was a possibility at all. I just wanted to make that clear. 
> 
> Also, don't let Emily in this chapter fool you. It might not seem so but she's still conflicted by the Whalers. 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments! I hope I did this confrontation justice!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Corvo looks for a child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Wow, it's been a week since I last posted. College finals are hell and absolutely kept me from writing even with inspiration. But now I'm back! Thanks to everyone who commented, gave Kudos or bookmarked this fic! Even when burdened with exams the encouragement made me want to keep on writing!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

The thing about time travel is that sometimes the changes you make are things you don’t expect to change.

* * *

When he looked back on it, Corvo would reluctantly admit that he could have handled leaving Timish’s estate a lot better. For one, instead of just leaving the place, Corvo could have destroyed that damn statue. Corvo should have at least tried to see if he could have used the statue to track Delilah down. But then again, putting the statue into his little pocket of the Void might have done more harm than good. 

Either way, Corvo couldn’t change what he had done. Not  _ again _ anyways. So instead of following up on his (only) lead, he’s once more left digging for information. Which leads him to his next target. 

Timish may not have been much more than scum, but even scum have people who they nominally associate with. As it is, with the way Timish was rising to power, more than a few were interested in getting to know the man. Corvo had to start with the less well connected nobles first. It made him feel vaguely like he got dunked in oil to rob people whose only crime was association with a criminal, but then he remembers that the criminal in question supported the Lord Regent. And that, were it not for him, these people might very well have supported him too. It at least kept him from regretting what he had to do.

Tonight though, Corvo wasn’t eyeing the residence of a little known noble. After some consideration, Corvo narrowed down the most likely suspect that Timish might have revealed something about Delilah to. While Timish’s family is very likely to have heard something about Delilah, he’s equally sure that they wouldn’t be willing to simply tell him or remember it correctly. And while he could attempt to liberate them of their belongings, Corvo has no guarantee that they still have anything on a woman that left Timish some several years ago. 

However, it seems that Delilah still frightened Timish to this day, and if Timish wasn’t willing to tell family, perhaps he got drunk and told a friend. Edel Villiers was once a Baronet who rose to the rank of Baron when Burrows took over. It’s very likely that he was involved in providing some support to the Lord Regent, but since Timish has been jailed, it seems that the majority of Villiers efforts in assisting Burrows has waned. Meaning that Villiers probably only gave the Lord Regent support for the sake of Timish. Not unreasonable considering that Villiers only rose one rank and generally preferred to stay out of the limelight and the larger politics. The fact that Timish had assisted him in gaining his title of Baronet should have led to the man repaying it by supporting Timish’s endeavors. The man also had a reputation of honoring his word.

Which made him a very likely person for Timish to slip up around. 

Corvo didn’t exactly have a way of convincing the man to talk, but he  _ does _ remember that the man desires a family of his own. At this point in time, he should still think he’s unable to produce children. There was a minor political fiasco a few years from now where a young boy was revealed to be his. The incident stood out in his memories more than some others for reasons he’d prefer not to think about, but the bottom line was that a woman had met the man during a Fugue Fest in Jessamine’s reign. Usual policy for those children is for them to only acknowledge their mother as their parent unless the mother dies. Upon which, the father is notified should the mother be aware of who they are and the child is still below 12 years of age. The mother was not aware and died sometime while the plague was in full force. 

Somehow the boy managed to survive the plague and streets despite having to raise himself for the majority of it. It made the, at the time ten year old, rather cynical when meeting his father. The resemblance was uncanny, and the boy had a pendent Villiers had given his mother, so the Baron took the child in. The gossip surrounding the incident was incessant and practically all anyone talked about.

If Corvo was remembering it right the boy should be four or five and with either his mother or his mother’s family. And all he has to go on is that the boy should be in the district Corvo is currently looking at. Corvo can’t take the risk that the kid will survive another time.

The irony of looking to save one child to protect another child that he once upon a time saved and could not find now was not lost on him. 

* * *

“Are you daft?” A man whispered with all the disbelief of someone seeing his friend walk to the edge of a cliff. “It’s not worth it to try to rob  _ Weepers. _ Do you  _ want _ to get the plague?”

His companion waved him off. “No, see here. I heard that the woman got something secreted away. Probably worth more gold than anything else around here. Gold I can use to get more elixir. All I have to do is wait until all of them are dead to get it. Shouldn’t take long now, managed to bribe some people into giving them some elixir with river water.”

Corvo perked up at the mention of what seemed to be the pendent. He was tempted to go down and convince the man to tell him where they were, but maybe if he just waited a little…

“You absolute  _ moron! _ ” The first man grit his teeth. “Are you telling me you’ve brought the plague  _ here? _ ” 

A head was shaken frantically. “No, of course not. They live all the way on the other side of the district, near where the border to the richer districts. The guards there won’t let the plague out of their house.” 

The first man looked like he wanted to strangle the man before him, and honestly Corvo had to agree. This was just stupid. Did he really not understand how the plague worked? 

“Idiot.” The man spat and walked away. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Away from here, before this place gets quarantined too.” 

Speaking of, it looks like Corvo is now on a timer. With some luck, the boy won’t be infected when he gets there.

* * *

The house was barricaded. It was a rather sturdy thing. Corvo imagines that if the plague had never happened, the boy might have lived, if not an affluent life, then at least one with few unattainable wants. 

There was a barred window up above, but Corvo could see a woman moving around in there. And the outline of a boy in another room with his dark vision. After a moment’s thought, Corvo removed his mask and knocked on the wood. 

The woman screamed at the sight of him, but probably not as much as she would have had she seen his mask instead. With her facing him, Corvo had to hold back a grimace. She’s definitely on her way to becoming a Walker. He would give her three days, five at most. 

“What- How did you get there?” She stuttered. 

Corvo searched his memory. What was the woman’s name again..? A- something. Amelia Brise that was it. “Are you Amelia Brise?”

Her eyes went wide, looking pink. Corvo re-estimated the time she had left. Probably only two days, if that. “How do you know who I am?”

“I was looking for you.” It wasn’t hard for Corvo to make himself look displeased, because he was. What hope did the boy have when his mother, and judging by the bodies in the corner, her parents were already infested? “I heard you had a kid during Fugue fest some five or six years back and got a pendant from the man you were with. I know of the man and he’s reputed to be unable to have children, despite wanting them.” Corvo made a show of looking around through the gap. “Rather pointless now. You’re all plague ridden anyways.” And turn to leave…

“Wait!” The woman rushed over to the window and started clawing at the boards. Corvo looked back at her. “I do have a boy and that pendant! He’s not sick, I swear! You can check! I kept him from all of us after my ma started showing signs of plague! Please! If you can take him away from this place please! Help him!” 

Corvo helped her remove the boards. “How’s he alive then, if you kept him isolated in a room?” 

Amelia’s mouth twisted as if she bit into something sour. “He told us not to drink the elixir that my cousin’s neighbors gave us. Said he once saw them pour river water into it. We didn’t believe him then, and didn’t believe him now that he asked us not to take it. He refused to take his own dose, so I put him to bed with our supplies in the next room. Ardyn, that’s his name, wouldn’t settle down in our normal bed and wanted to be alone. Not an hour later, my pa started coughing. I blocked off the room then. He’s stuck in there with food and water, but it’s only a matter of time before he goes too if he stays here, from starvation or plague.”

She clasped her hands together and gave Corvo a pleading look. Honestly, Corvo felt an invisible weight pressing down on him the longer this charade went on. “Please, he’s still healthy. If you know his father, then take him to him. You must have a way out if you managed to get here. All I know about the man is that he once told me that he despised being blackmailed. Something about how there was someone in his life who constantly held a threat over his head.” Corvo had to fight to keep a straight face. Perhaps the relationship between Arnold Timish and Edel Villiers was more one sided than he had thought. 

For a moment, Corvo was concerned that meant Villiers would know nothing, but then realized that it just made it more likely. Timish did visit the man often enough that Villiers could have been trying to get something against the man as well. As far as he knew, Timish rarely left Villiers’ residence without a drink. 

“Alright.” Corvo agreed. “Where is he?” 

Amelia pointed to a shelf. “He’s through the door behind that. The pendant is around his neck, underneath his clothes. Please.”

Corvo moved to shift the shelf out of the way. His Dark Vision let him see the boy getting up from the noise. The kid backed himself into a corner. Smart. Corvo looked over at Amelia, she was staying as far from the door as she could, not tearing her eyes from the door for a second. Sorrow flashed over her face before it was well hidden. Corvo gave her a nod. 

“Ardyn? Wake up!” 

“I’m awake! Why’s it so loud?” 

Amelia pressed her eyes tightly closed. “Sweetie, a man is going to open the door in a minute, I want you to go to him, alright?” 

Ardyn hesitated. “Alright mom.” 

Corvo opened the door and saw Ardyn. The boy had bright auburn hair and clear blue eyes. A rarity in Dunwall and a spitting image of his father. Had it not been for the fact that Villiers tried to keep his reputation to a minimum, perhaps the boy would have been found sooner. 

Ardyn slowly left the room and reached Corvo. He looked at his mother and took a step in her direction. “No!” She shouted, then lowered her voice, trying to regain the appearance of calm that was just lost. “No, sweetie. Don’t come over here. Listen to me now, this man is-” She stopped when she realised she didn’t know his name. 

It was Corvo’s turn to hesitate. His appearance didn’t really match the Lord Protector’s anymore, at least to those who didn’t know him personally. It was the wariness that was creeping back into Amelia’s eyes that decided it for him. “Corvo Attano.” 

There was surprise on her face, but some confidence seemed to seep in her too. Corvo breathed easier when she didn’t immediately denounce him. “Remember the Lord Protector? He’s going to take you to a safe place. Away from here.” 

“Just me?” Corvo raised an eyebrow. Very smart if he could figure out the implication near immediately. 

“Yes, sweetie.” She looked at him sadly. “Just you.” The poor boy looked about ready to burst into tears. Corvo wished he could have helped out sooner, but he had his priorities. For Emily, he tells himself. At least the boy won’t have to live on the streets this time. 

Corvo can’t quite manage to convince himself that it was enough.

“Ardyn, sweetheart.” Amelia spoke rapidly, as if finally realising she’s running out of time. “No matter what, remember that I love you. You are so bright and you’re going to do amazing things when you grow up with that mind of yours, I just know it. So you have to make sure you actually get to grow up. You’re just a boy now, and I wish I could see you grow into the man I know you can be, but this is where we part.” 

“You’re going to die.” Ardyn said quietly, hunching in on himself. 

“Yes.” She says firmly. “I will, but there’s you. Live Ardyn. Live and I’ll live on in your memory.” 

Corvo had to glance away. A nice sentiment, but a rather hard one to hold onto.  _ Well _ , Corvo thought as he looked at Ardyn,  _ perhaps it will work for someone who doesn’t have to see their loved one die _ . 

Amelia pressed her lips into a tearful smile, putting as much cheer as she could behind it. “Now go with Mr. Attano please. Before you catch the plague too.” The last part was directed at both of them. Corvo paused and gave her a bow of respect before picking Ardyn up. The boy stared at his mother. “Ready?” He asked softy. 

Ardyn tore his eyes away and nodded into his shoulder. 

Like a ghost, one moment they were there, the next Amelia was left alone looking at the empty air where they once were. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this chapter seem like filler to you? I don't think it does, but that might just be me. Originally I was going to write something else, deleted it, planned another, and then wrote the set up to that plan. Honestly, I did not intend for this interaction to go so long. Currently Ardyn is about the level of a minor supporting character but it's a toss up as to whether or not I keep him. I'm kinda envisioning the kid as a kinda mini Sherlock level IQ who also has EQ too. He's like a mashup of three different characters I've recently read about. He's interesting, but I'm not sure what to really do with him. (Hint: Neither does Corvo)
> 
> Really, I'm not sure anyone is reading the notes so even though I wanna go on with explaining some things, I'll just stop here. If anyone has any questions, or even just wants to say hi, feel free to comment! I promise I'll get to you when I can. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corvo scrambles to hand over Ardyn to his father, Ardyn's up to something, and Samuel muses on Corvo Attano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm ecstatic at the enthusiasm Chapter 9 seemed to generate. It took a while to figure out what's going on, but I got here eventually, as evident by the fact you have a chapter 10 at all. 
> 
> I ended up taking Ardyn in a completely different direction than I thought I would, but I liked what I ended up with. I hope you all do too!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

The thing about time travel is that its a double edged blade.

* * *

It's when Ardyn's stomach starts to rumble that Corvo starts to realize exactly what kind of pit he dug for himself. 

Now, it’s not like Corvo was  _ completely _ unprepared for this. He went into that district knowing full well that there was a chance the boy’s mother was already dead and that he had to take him with him. It’s just. He didn’t quite realize what it would mean until he’s shoving some child acceptable rations into the boy’s hands and watching him eat. 

This was easier when the boy was just a concept. A bit of information and a bargain chip so that Corvo could find out where Delilah is. It’s more difficult to keep that in mind when the kid is breathing and blabbering and just. 

Ardyn - and Outsider help him, the boy has a  _ name _ now - was so much more cynical when he was discovered five years later. Corvo forcefully kept his thoughts on the present (past?) to keep from wondering what exactly made him turn out that way. 

But now Ardyn’s staring into Corvo’s eyes as he’s eating and Corvo has no idea what to do with this child. It’s not like Corvo can take him with him when looking to bargain with Villiers. And Corvo certainly can’t leave a child alone in his barely habitable apartment base - which is only so _ because _ Corvo finally bothered to clean a bit in preparation for the kid. 

Maybe Corvo hadn’t thought this through very well. 

“You don’t look half bad for a dead man.” Corvo’s attention snaps right back to the child who’s now a liability and-  _ target _ no he needs to fix this- 

“You can’t tell anyone that.” Time is slipping through his fingers for all that he’s gained so much and he speaks so fast that it was almost incomprehensible. Corvo kneels and grabs the boy’s shoulders. “Absolutely  _ no one _ can find out that you know that I am- who I am. Do you understand?  _ No one. _ ” 

Instead of looking scared or confused like most children would be, Ardyn gives him a calculative look that strikes him as familiar, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. The thought disappears almost as fast as it came because this  _ actual child _ needs to understand that Delilah would  _ ruin _ him to get to Corvo if he let on that he knew that Corvo was the ghost and it would all be Corvo’s fault- 

Corvo rips his hands away from the boy before they could break him with their grip and settles for curling them into fists. He takes a deep breath, strangling those thoughts before they could get worse and packs them away. The child’s gaze on him makes it easier. 

“There are people after me.” Corvo says simply, voice as serene as a still lake. “I am hunting down someone who is very dangerous and if anyone finds out that you know who I am a lot of very bad things might happen.” to you, Corvo doesn’t say. 

“How’d you come back?” Ardyn asks, dark implications in unsuspecting words. It dawns on Corvo that it might not be his identity that kills the boy, but the hope that his mother could be like him. 

Corvo’s gaze twitches to his flexing Marked hand before he could stop it, and the observant - _ too observant _ , Corvo thinks - boy zeros in on it fast enough that it was clear he was looking for a tell. It makes Corvo wish he continued wearing gloves, no matter how much he’s always despised the slight stifiling of his dexterity when he wears them. 

“I’m a special case.” Corvo settles on telling him. “There are reasons, things you’re not old enough to know about, that caused me to come back. I didn’t even really die in the first place anyways, it was more extenuating circumstances - special things that happened that made it seem like I was dead.”

Ardyn ignores him and keeps staring at his left hand. At his Mark. The only thing the boy sees is probably the Outsider’s mark, but it doesn’t keep Corvo from feeling like he’s being pried apart for answers. The torturer could have taken lessons from Ardyn. The five year old is much more successful at making Corvo feel like he couldn’t hide anything. 

Corvo’s voice softens. “Ardyn, look at me.” Slowly, the boy does. Corvo holds his gaze with his own. “Your mother is  _ at most _ two days away from becoming a weeper. Weepers don’t last more than a month and they get worse the longer it goes on. I know that eventually someone somewhere will make a cure, but I highly doubt it will be in time to save her. She’s asked you to remember her as the woman she was and not as the weeper she’s becoming. Hold onto that and push forward with your life. I know it’s hard, most times-” Corvo has to swallow past the lump in his throat but his gaze doesn’t waver. “Most times it won’t feel quite real that she’s gone, but you’ll have to let go. The dead can’t be brought back.”

Ardyn lets his eyes fall to the floor and he stares at it. Corvo worries what is going through the boy’s mind before he looks up and agrees to Corvo’s words. 

Corvo visibly slumps in relief for a moment before he gathers himself up and tells Ardyn that Corvo will take him to someone who will look after him while Corvo tells Villiers that Ardyn exists.

Corvo turns his back on the boy and starts packing some more supplies. While Corvo’s relatively sure Samuel will be willing to look after the child for a few hours, it would be unfair to have the boatman provide food for Ardyn too. Some more elixirs for the two of them wouldn’t hurt either. 

He never sees the determination that hardens in too young eyes before it’s carefully hidden away.

* * *

Samuel did expect that he’d have to look after a kid at some point when he jumped on the former Royal Protector’s side, but he thought it would be the future empress and not some random boy. 

For the most part, Samuel set the boy up with some snacks and frowned at the lack of toys or just about anything that might possibly keep a young child entertained. Ardyn mentioned he was tired which was fortunate because aside from telling some half remembered stories from when Samuel was a boy himself to put Ardyn to sleep, there really wasn’t anything Samuel could do for him. 

There wasn’t much that Samuel could do for Corvo neither.

Samuel frowns again. He doesn’t make the habit of despairing over bad situations. He once heard someone call him a pragmatist and when they explained what it was, Samuel had to agree. It’s much better to work with what you got rather than constantly think about what could have been. But Corvo seems to be the exception. 

Corvo seems to be the exception to a lot of things. 

Corvo Attano is a man out of the box. Just when Samuel think’s he’s got the man’s number, he goes and does something else that doesn’t rightly make any sense. Right from the start there was something off about the man. Not something bad, just not like anybody else. 

Sometimes, Samuel thinks that Corvo knows a lot more than he lets on, but the man is clearly at a loss and trying to  _ find _ information in the first place. The man could be pretending, could in fact have hidden Emily himself, but that doesn’t quite feel right. The concern Corvo has for Emily’s safety is genuine. He seems to be tearing himself apart in worry, which is partially why Samuel is so wary of the man. Should Emily be dead, Corvo would probably snap. And he’s a very dangerous man to be around if he ever does. 

Samuel has settled on pinning the strange obsession with finding the woman who’s threatening Emily’s life on Corvo’s need to see her safe, but Samuel knows he is missing a piece of the endless puzzle that is Corvo Attano. 

If Samuel had to describe Corvo, he would probably call him a hurricane. The wind and rain on the sea makes it nigh impossible to keep a boat from overturning should one get caught up in the storm, but the strength of it and the sight it makes is awe-inspiring. Samuel himself is in a boat on the fringes of the eye. Close enough to see the chaos, but a stone’s throw away from getting sucked up into its dangers and not near enough to the center to truly understand the natural disaster’s effects. 

None of the things Samuel saw explained the looks though. Occasionally, when Corvo gets quiet and lost in thought while Samuel chatters on as he drives the boat, Corvo will stare at Samuel with a fondness that shouldn’t be there. Samuel doesn’t see Corvo out of the boat trips the man asks him to take him on. They don’t know each other well enough to care much beyond what friendly acquaintances should. 

If Samuel didn’t know any better, he’d say that Corvo had intentions beyond the strictly platonic when he approached him and asked for his help, but Samuel does know better because he’s felt that all consuming need to be with someone and went to sea to forget that hopeless love. The things that Samuel can see in Corvo’s eyes are nothing like that. No, it’s more like there’s someone Samuel reminds him of, someone who’s gone and whose loss still pains the man. That doesn’t make sense either considering the most obvious person who he lost is the Empress. Maybe a guard he knew? 

Corvo Attano is a good man though. All this thieving might be a bit much, but the man never hurts anyone or takes more than what his targets can afford to live without. Well, unless the target is someone the world is better off missing. Samuel felt sick when he learned about that one noble who tore apart young girls for fun. It ain’t right for a man to do that. 

It’s easy to like Corvo. Easy to notice the man doesn’t eat much. Easy to see he doesn’t get much sleep neither. Samuel thinks his talking helps. The man never seems to slip into thought quite as much as long as Samuel is talking about the here and now, but sometimes not even that seems to help. 

Samuel is just a boatman. So he drives his boat and talks and puts food in the man’s hands and gives him pointed looks until he actually eats. It’s not much but it’s all he can do. 

And now, he can watch a boy while Corvo goes out and does whatever it is that needs doing. 

Except, he can’t. Not really. Samuel thinks he falls asleep in his chair from exhaustion. He never sees the boy crack an eye open or slip out into the night to a twisted shadow around the corner. A shadow that Corvo would have recognized as that of an old woman out of her mind.

* * *

Each and every time, Corvo finds himself pitifully disappointed by the lack of difficulty in getting where he wants to go. He knows he shouldn’t. The first time around, more than a handful of guards at a time meant that Corvo risked being caught and killed. Still, after seemingly endless battles against the Beasts and Turned, nothing seems to be even remotely challenging for him. 

In the back of his mind, Corvo wonders if Daud might be able to give him a run for his money. Then he remembers that he’s ignoring the man exists and distracts himself with something shiny. 

So it’s about an hour to dawn the same night that finds Corvo in Villiers’ room, looming over the man as he slept. Corvo leaves the mask on. There’s a chance that Ardyn will slip up, but it’s better than trusting his identity to a man who Corvo doesn’t know much about. 

The following conversation is about what he expected, which just sets Corvo on edge. The man nearly alerted his guards, Corvo stopped him before he did so, they made a deal where Corvo brought Ardyn to the man in exchange for Villiers telling him about Delilah’s latest location, and Corvo left without anyone other than Villiers the wiser. 

It makes Corvo rush back to Samuel’s shack. Seeing both man and boy asleep in it fills Corvo with more relief than it should, but Corvo knows that with his luck they could have been attacked by Delilah and taken or killed while they slept. 

Corvo briefly wakes Samuel to thank the man for looking after Ardyn. It still makes Corvo feel mildly guilty that he woke the man in the middle of the night in the first place, but he really had no idea who else to turn to. Corvo keeps the pleasantries as short as possible to let the boatman get back to bed and steals away into the sunrise with the boy snuffling little sleep noises in his arms. 

Ardyn wakes up briefly as Corvo leaves him with his father, but for the most part is too grumpy to complain much. Ardyn mostly ends up referring to Corvo as Mister - probably short for Mister Attano like his mother called him. The boy still refuses to relent until Corvo promises to come back to see him one day. Far, far into the future one day, but still. Corvo leaves to return to his base with the Brigmore Manor at the forefront of his mind.

And yet. And yet, Corvo can’t help but feel like he missed something. 

Corvo only hopes - however futilely - that it won’t end up coming back to bite him. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we get a bit of Samuel's point of view here. From now on I'm probably going to add some of the other character's points of views in the main story instead of a separate chapter. Occasionally I will write more interludes, but it'll mainly be for characters who are doing things completely unrelated to whatever Corvo's doing. The focus is still on him after all. 
> 
> Corvo's also finally found out where Delilah is! She better watch out, she better not cry, Corvo's on his way to her next night :)
> 
> (I know that's bad but I couldn't help myself)
> 
> As for Ardyn... :)))))
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killing is never the right answer in Dishonored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Let me just say: I'm grateful for all the support you all have been giving me! I didn't expect getting so many comments, but it was a delight to read and respond to each of them! 
> 
> The response to Ardyn's more positive than I thought it would be too! We see more of him in this chapter so hold onto your pants boys and girls, we're in for a wild ride. 
> 
> Enjoy the Chapter!

The thing about time travel is that it can always make things worse. 

* * *

When Ardyn was two, he realized he wasn’t like everyone else. He was screaming and crying when mama kept trying to leave the house. It was the first time in his life he ever threw a tantrum and it scared mama enough to get her to stay. Even when he was a baby he didn’t cry unless he needed something. She didn’t understand what scared him so much and still didn’t even when he told her. 

“Don’t you feel them?” He asked, tears in his eyes. “The monsters will get you if you leave tonight.” _ They’ll laugh at your tears and take pleasure in your shame. _He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest, sure it would make it more real. 

Mama sighed, the wild panic in her eyes fading. She tightened her arms around him. “Oh Ardyn. Monsters aren’t real. You have nothing to worry about.” 

_ But they are _. Ardyn wanted to say, but he knew she would never believe him, just as he knew that if she left that night she would have never come home. He held his tongue about the shadows in the hearts around them. Kept silent about the horrid things lurking in the dark. And he never ever told her about the spot of wicked, twisted, frantic desire that never faded from the edges of his senses.

From then on, Ardyn never mentioned the odd things again. 

* * *

The Brigmore Manor is located in a frustratingly open area. Samuel could only get him so close before Corvo had to make him stop for his own safety. Corvo made sure to send him off and see that he made it far away before turning back to his target. 

It was so tempting to just storm in and fight all of them head on, but Corvo couldn’t quite convince himself to condemn the rest of the witches to the same fate as Delilah. He has already resolved to kill her, but even though these women obeyed Delilah, it is not them that he has a problem with. If he hadn’t killed a single whaler in his crusade for Emily the first time, he shouldn’t do differently with Delilah’s witches. 

The statue in the front yard was a problem, but not as much as the fact that Corvo couldn’t see any other way inside besides the front door. Delilah wasn’t a stupid woman, if she saw him coming after her, she would be preparing for a battle. And while Corvo is certain he could take her, the element of surprise is not something he wants to give up when on the enemy’s territory. Even now, the witches are more on guard than he’d like. Corvo should have waited a few more days to let their guard down, but Emily’s life is on the line here, the risk is more than worth it.

Corvo circled the mansion before settling on starting his attack from the rear. There were more witches, but more importantly, there was no statue. 

Fortunately, a single witch broke off from the rest of her sisters and went over to a corner of the yard. It was child’s play to come up behind her to choke her out, but she was more alert than the vast majority of people Corvo had choked in the past because she whirled around and stopped him. 

“Wait.” The whisper was soft, Corvo might have never noticed it had she not spoken so softly in the first place. Most of the time, his targets already raised an alarm before anything else. The strangeness of the situation stayed his hand. 

The witch studied him for a moment. “Damn, I thought you’d be Daud.” Corvo bristled at the implication. “Hold your horses, we just had a bet going around about whether it was Daud going around in a disguise to fool us. Look, I don’t really care much for Delilah. I don’t know about the others, but I follow her because she taught me how to use magic.”

Corvo flicks his gaze down to her faintly marked hand. She doesn’t notice. “But lately she’s been obsessed with Emily Kaldwin. More so than usual with you hunting her down. She sped up all her plans and abandoned some others since then. And I can tell that it’s going to drag every last one of us into it. I don’t care about ruling Dunwall, if my sisters can be safe, then I’m willing to sell out Delilah in a heartbeat. She doesn’t care for us like she once did and I don’t know when she’ll decide that she’s better off without us. Leave my sisters alone, and I’ll tell you how to get inside. Don’t and you’ll have me to answer to.”

It’s almost amusing that this single witch thinks she can do anything against Corvo, but then again, a lot of people said the same about him going after Burrows. It’s nothing he hadn’t already decided on doing though, so it’s easy to incline his head in agreement. 

“Right then, there’s a switch in the greenhouse next to us. It’s for the graveyard passage out front, it’ll get you inside to Delilah.” She turns to leave, but Corvo takes her in another chokehold. This time though, the hold is loose, questioning. The witch twists her lips. “Yeah alright, probably better they find me unconscious anyways.” 

With that tacit approval, Corvo chokes her out and leaves her hidden by some bushes. He warps to the top of the greenhouse and prepares his sleep darts. One time freeze and three darts later, the other three in the yard are out. He hides them in the greenhouse before sweeping the back once more for anyone else, catching another two coming around. 

Time is ticking. It’s only a matter of time before he’s discovered now, so he discards the idea of knocking out any other witches and just slips through the graveyard entrance, closing it behind him to delay a search for him for even a few more minutes. 

There’s a statue of Delilah down here and he almost thinks that the witch sold him out, but freezing time gets him past it and to the manor door. 

He’s in. 

* * *

It wasn’t exactly easy to ignore the whispers, but Ardyn managed most of the time. When the plague started, it got harder, and harder still when the Empress died, but he still could. 

Then the dreams started. 

He doesn’t always know where he is in the dreams. Sometimes he’s in his house. Others, he’s in a ruined mansion. The rest are random and never anywhere he’s seen before. 

And every single time the only other person around is a blind old woman who tells him to call her granny.

Granny talks a lot about the shadows and whispers. Tells him to listen to what they say because it’s truer than most anything else he’ll ever hear. She says that he can hear them because he’s connected to the Void like her but not. 

“You remind me of my dear husband.” Granny smiles crookedly down at him, never quite aimed correctly at his face. The unseeing gaze only serves to send shivers up his spine. “He could hear it like you dearie. I didn’t get this gift naturally, he had to give it to me, but he’s always been able to hear the Void.”

Ardyn tried running away once, but he always seemed to end up right back where he started. At some point, when he realized she never tried to hurt him, he stopped being so scared and started listening. 

Granny taught him a lot about the Void. How to use the Void to see things hidden in the dark. How to listen for the whale songs in runes and bones. How to understand the rats, or birdies as she would call them, and get them to listen to him. How to use the Void to bend space around him, even though he was told he wouldn’t get that quite right until he grew up a bit more. 

But not once had he ever practiced while he was awake like she told him to. 

Granny grew more and more angry when he wouldn’t listen to her. She told him he’s never going to be as good awake as he is here if he doesn’t practice. His body needs to get used to using the Void more or else he’s going to hurt himself. 

“But my Mom might get hurt if I do right?” Ardyn asked. 

Granny grew quiet. If Ardyn was an adult he would have called the look on her face scheming, but he wasn’t so he merely waited for her answer. “All things die dearie. But you and I, we’re special. We’re chosen. My dear husband calls for me even now, telling me to bring him back so we can be together as we should be. And I need you to help me. Won’t you help me dearie?”

It was answer enough, so Ardyn stood steadfast in his stance against using the Void when awake, happy enough with his family around him.

It was a fantasy shattered when they got sick.

* * *

The manor had enough twists and turns that Corvo had no problems taking out the witches one by one. If he had less mana for time freeze, fewer handmade runes, or even was less powerful or experienced with his abilities, he would have been killed by now. 

It was a challenge getting though, but it wasn’t impossible, and with the speed he was taking them down, not a single one was able to raise an alarm before they were all unconscious. 

The notes and conversations he heard around the manor chilled him to the bones. Delilah managed to finish gathering the supplies for the ritual a month early. She’s preparing to begin process now. 

Corvo’s out of time.

* * *

Granny visited him more frequently when they got sick. Ardyn didn’t have anything else to do but sleep anymore, trapped in a tiny room with no windows. 

The first night after his family fell ill, Ardyn asked her if he could cure them. 

“No dearie, you can’t.” Granny scolds him. “All things die, but the Void in us can keep us healthy. There’s a soup we can eat to keep us from getting sick, but normal people can’t handle the Void in it.”

“Then what use is it?” Ardyn demands. He storms off to a corner before she can answer and ignores her entirely until he wakes up. 

He continues to ignore Granny in his dreams - she busies herself doing something with the Void and blood and bones that Ardyn doesn’t recognize - and clings to the moments awake when he talks with his mom. Ardyn treasures those conversations. If he closes his eyes, he can almost imagine everything as it once was. But then she coughs or he feels just a little too cold, and nothing seems right anymore. 

There was a line he drew somewhere from that first moment when he was two. A divide between his normal life and the Void. One he didn’t even realize he set.

And then Corvo Attano came for him and erased the line entirely. 

* * *

The ritual was in progress when Corvo finally found Delilah. The Outsider visited him briefly, but Corvo couldn’t bother to entertain the god when Emily’s life was on the line. The Outsider must have gotten the hint, because, aside from a brief questioning of what he’ll choose to do to Delilah, the god didn’t stay very long. 

To be honest, Corvo considered taking out Delilah that way himself, but he doesn’t have a painting necessary for that. When he saw the painting of the Void not far off from Delilah’s ritual, he had a moment of clarity. _ This _ is how she came to be in the Void. Whoever stopped her the first time had decided to take the overly dramatic and ironic path of trapping Delilah in her own ritual rather than simply killing her. 

Whatever the reason, Corvo’s choice was made the moment he saw that painting. He can’t risk Emily’s life twice. No, Delilah dies here and now. 

Corvo will make sure she’ll never hurt Emily ever again. 

* * *

Ardyn was with Granny before he met Corvo, but she was strange. Ardyn knew his stubbornness was making her mad. Every time since, she was snappish and never stopped scolding him. But tonight she was cheerful. 

Ardyn was still a child after all, and a precocious one besides. He couldn’t help but be curious as to why Granny wasn’t mad anymore. 

“It’s all coming together now dearie.” Granny says delightedly. She whirls around like a girl a century younger and dances as if excited for a ball. “Soon, soon! Everything will be in place for the wedding of a lifetime! He’s calling for me, can’t you hear? Don’t you hear his longing? He wishes to be together again and I’ll be with him once more!”

Ardyn listens hard and hears that there-not-there presence that came to be two months ago. It is always together with a sad, lonely, tired presence at its side. She’s right, it’s getting louder. 

Granny grabs his shoulders and Ardyn wrinkles his nose at the acrid stench of her breath. “He’ll be with you soon dearie. You _ must _meet me and give something to him. Oh, I know he misses me too, but he’ll never take anything from me, gentleman as he is. Do it quiet like dearie. Slip it into his pocket. He and his once-gone and back-again companion are coming for you. Listen to the birdies to find me dearie. Listen to them and get my present for him.” 

Ardyn wakes up before he can refuse.

And then Ardyn’s staring up into the face of a dead man and thinks hard to himself. The building hope in his chest makes the task of leaving his mother both easier and harder than he thought it would be. He feels her comforting presence disappear not long after they leave, and he can almost hear the sound of a blade against a throat. 

The mark that he once saw on Granny’s hand stands starkly against Mr. Attano’s skin and Ardyn thinks to himself, _ I can save her. _ Ardyn asks Mr. Attano about it, about how he came back, but with the sheer adamant tone in his voice as he tells Ardyn to stay away from the Void - because Ardyn knows it’s the Void even though Mr. Attano doesn’t say anything about it - is so opposite of the helpfulness of Granny that Ardyn’s slightly put out. Ardyn knows that he won’t be able to get any help from Mr. Attano. 

Mr. Attano takes him to a man named Samuel for a few hours. The birdies- rats chatter about feigning sleep and slipping away in the dark. It doesn’t take long for the old man to fall asleep in his chair and Ardyn takes the chance to sneak away and follows the rats to Granny. 

The gift that she wants him to slip to the sad, lonely, tired presence that is Mr. Attano is small. It can fit in his hand and it depicts a young woman in stone. Granny practically paws at him to tell her more about her husband, but Ardyn doesn’t understand what she’s talking about. He knows that Mr. Attano isn’t married, so it can’t be him. There’s the other presence that hangs around Mr. Attano, but no matter how much he looks, Ardyn can’t see anyone there. 

Ardyn tells her her husband longs to see her as much as she does him because the presence does call out for someone, even if Ardyn can’t see it. Even if Ardyn doesn’t think the presence is calling for her. 

For the first time since they met, Ardyn asks her who her husband is. 

The look on Granny’s face is sour. “My husband is the Outsider dearie, but he is too attached to his mortal form and too far removed to be with me.” She switches emotions to delight so fast Ardyn can nearly feel the whiplash. “But now, he’s left that pesky form behind and his past with it. He calls for me as he attached himself to one between life and death and I must discard who I once was to join him! We will be one and never again shall we part!” 

A sliver of doubt slips into Ardyn’s heart. It only takes a single thought of his mother to stamp it out. He just needs to get good enough at using the Void to bring her back. Then, everything will be worth it. Ardyn can ignore the oddness of the situation, the strange feeling that something is wrong. All that matters is that he can save her. 

When Mr. Attano comes for him again, Ardyn slips the small gift into the man’s pockets as he takes him away to his new home. 

Ardyn faces the large, cold mansion with a man that looks just like him and calls himself his father and feels like a hollowed out husk. This is not his home, this is not his family. He’s getting his family back. 

But the whispers he hears tell him something is wrong.

* * *

“Why do you fight me?” Delilah screams even as she scrambles to gather her defenses against him. Defenses that Corvo shatters with power far greater than she has. “What does Emily Kaldwin matter to you? Why do you go so far for her?”

Delilah stares at him like a dying predator. Fierce and bitter, thinking that they were the ruler of the wilds only to discover that there was always someone stronger. Corvo gives her words no thought. Blocks as much of her appearance and voice from his mind as possible. Then and now, she is far too much like Jessamine in appearance and voice for Corvo’s liking. 

With every passing second, it’s harder to keep Jessamine’s presence from overlapping with Delilah’s. It distracts him enough for Delilah to knock his mask off his face. It clatters away somewhere, but Corvo can’t bother to look, not when he finally has Delilah helpless at his mercy. 

She’s leaning against the ritual table, out of power and too wounded to fight any longer. Delilah’s eyes widen in shock before turning derisive. “So Burrows couldn’t even kill you properly. How did you survive Corvo Attano?”

“What makes you think I’d tell you?” Corvo retorts, blade at the ready.

Delilah sneers at him. “I could have sworn Daud would have been the one to discover my plans. He of all people was experienced enough with the Void and the greatest threat, or so I thought. Who would have guessed that Jessamine’s dead lover was not so dead after all, and far more entrenched in the Void than anyone knew.”

Something clicks in Corvo’s mind. The cryptic remark about the Outsider about parallels. The possible places Emily could have been hidden. The sheer difficulty in anyone without Void powers taking Delilah down. And now Delilah telling him to his face that she was concerned about Daud being a threat to her plans. 

Daud had saved Emily. 

If the parallels remark is correct, and the Outsider never lies only misleads, then Emily is with Daud. Corvo is left reeling at Delilah’s words and she takes the opportunity to kick at him. It forces him out of his thoughts, almost enough to make him grateful. 

Corvo makes it quick, unwilling to give her a chance to escape. His blade runs through Delilah’s heart. In the back of his mind he can almost see this scene from a third person perspective. A mirror image to the moment when Daud ran his blade through Jessamine. 

_ It’s over. _ Corvo thinks as he draws back his blade. _ Emily is safe from her _. 

Corvo doesn’t even get the blade all the way out of Delilah’s rapidly cooling corpse before there’s an explosion in the Void.

All fades to black. 

* * *

In the Flooded District, Daud stumbles as the Heart throbs like a rapidly beating drum, radiating enough Void to practically open a door to it. 

Daud pulls it out and stares at it, puzzled. “What in the Void..?” 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)))))
> 
> The next chapter is going to be a Daud interlude! We're finally going to be able to see what he's been up to! 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude: Daud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Here's the chapter that some of you have been waiting for! Thanks to everyone for the kudos, comments, and bookmarks! I'll make this short, this chapter is mostly made up of audiograph records so keep that in mind.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

_ I never should have taken up that contract. If I could turn back time to the moment before my sword struck through the Royal Protector’s heart, I’d stop it all before it ever began.  _

_ Corvo Attano’s death is a contradiction. He shouldn’t matter, I’ve killed dozens of guards that protected my targets when I had to, but somehow this one is sticking to me, like the filth in the slums. Guards are hired to keep their charges safe from people like me, even at the cost of their lives. I have no doubt that Corvo Attano was the same. With a charge like the Empress, he must have been ready to face death at a moment’s notice for her.  _

_ No, It’s not his death that fills me with regret, though it was certainly the trigger. I was heading straight towards a downfall of my own making. The coin, the coin, the coin. It was all I could think about, as if any of it ever matters in the end. I won’t make excuses. Somewhere along the line, what I got out of any mark became the priority. The question was no longer “should I take the job?” but “what’s the pay?”  _

_ I’ve become sloppy. Arrogant.  _

_ And the black-eyed bastard certainly isn’t helping matters.  _

_ For the first time in years the Outsider visited me in my dreams after the assassination of Jessamine Kaldwin. I don’t know what he was thinking. He spouted some cryptic bullshit about how I’ve completely changed the rivers of fate, but something in me just wouldn’t agree with that. It doesn’t feel like my actions had anything to do with it, and yet, how could they not? I’ll say it again, I won’t make excuses. I chose to take the job on the Empress’s life. I chose to continue with it right up to the moment Billie drove her blade through her chest.  _

_ Perhaps I could have been more decisive, calling for a retreat the moment I felt the screaming from my bones that this job should have been left untouched. Perhaps I could have been better, stronger, and known, when it was offered, to leave the job well enough alone. Perhaps I could have even warned the Empress of the plot on her life.  _

_ I don’t like to dwell on what-ifs or could-have-beens, that way lies madness. Nevertheless, I find my mind drifting back to the moment my sword drew blood and all the ways it could have gone better.  _

_ Billie avoids me now. She avoids everyone. I should have called it off before it went any further than Attano’s demise. As I drew my sword out of his corpse, I felt the weight of the Empress’s life in my hands and found myself wanting. The brief glimpse was bad enough, but Billie got the bulk of the experience. And now she pays for my crimes.  _

_ No one should have had to kill an Empress.  _

* * *

_ SMASH _

_ *heavy breathing* _

_ Damn you Burrows. Damn you to the deepest, darkest, coldest pits of the Void. How many people have I killed for you? How many did I condemn to worse fates than you planned for Emily Kaldwin? _

_ SMASH  _

_ You have no idea what you’re playing with you bastard, but I’ll make sure you learn. All that security you have going for you in your tower, setting up your games, and scheming your plots. None of it will save you when I finally get my hands on you. The  _ plague? _ Of all things,  _ you’re _ the reason the plague’s in Dunwall?  _

_ SMASH _

_ And to top it all off you’ve planned on secreting away a little girl in a  _ whorehouse _ of all places. *A scoff* As if either me or my Whalers would meet the Pendletons at the Golden Cat for the trade. Exactly how stupid do you think we are?  _

_ I don’t know if that girl has the best or worst luck in the world. Her parents get killed, but she’s kept from suffering a worse fate. I wouldn’t call our base the best place for a child to be, but it has to be a step up from whatever  _ you _ had planned. Serves you right to be placed under suspicion for something you actually did, no matter that you used us to carry it out. I’d love to see your face when you realize that we won’t make the tradeoff in three days.  _

* * *

_ My men have finally figured out what Emily’s fate would have been today. Nosy little shits, all of them. That girl is no better. She’s somehow managed to worm her way into the hearts of nearly all my men.  _

_ More of them were relieved than I expected. Mostly because I didn’t really expect anything. I should have known some of them had problems with ripping a child away from their parents. A fair number of them know the experience well. I would smack them upside the head for not speaking up, but I had my part in failing to notice.  _

_ Emily still avoids me, no surprise. She saw the moment when I killed her father, of course she’s going to be wary. Sometimes though, I see her out of the corner of my eye, watching me command my men. Once, I saw her face scrunch up in anger. I doubt that she’ll ever like what she finds.  _

_ The more I see her interact with my men, the more I regret that mission. Damn you Burrows. The coin. Wasn’t. Worth. It.  _

* * *

_ The Outsider visited me once more last night. The black eyed bastard never knows when to stop. He said he had a gift for me and then gave me  _ Corvo Attano’s _ heart. It beats heavy in the palm of my hand and whispers me secrets in a voice I just know is his.  _

_ None of my whalers see it when I have it out, but it’s still his  _ heart _ .  _

_ I can hear the desperation in its voice when it calls out for Emily. I’ve taken to spending more time in her general vicinity to calm its throbbing. There are also times when not even she can calm it and it just asks why. I have no answer for it.  _

_ Sometimes it speaks as if it can feel the twisted thing it’s been made into. Those are the worst ones. What was the Outsider thinking, condemning a man to never pass on in peace? What was he thinking when he gave the heart to me? Is this meant to punish me for my sins? I would not have thought the Outsider to meddle in the affairs of mortal men, but this throws me into doubt. If I hadn’t known that the god had plans hidden in plans, I might have started to believe it.  _

_ I don’t know why the Outsider gave me Corvo Attano’s heart, and I’m not sure I want to find out.  _

* * *

_ Emily Kaldwin confronted me today, ten days since she came to be with us. I’ve been waiting for her to come to me, it was only a matter of time, but I’ve never expected the words that came out of her mouth.  _

_ She hates me and told me so, that was inevitable. Then she asked me why.  _

_ Why why why. It’s a question I’ve asked myself before and the answer was never enough. It was all for the coin. I could pretty the answer up. Say I needed to get it to sustain my Whalers. Say that medicine is expensive in the slums. Say that it would have gotten all of us out of Dunwall before the borders were closed. In the end, the coin was what I was after. What it’d be used for are just excuses.  _

_ Still, she didn’t deserve anything but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So I started from the beginning. I told her about the slums of Dunwall and how the poor grew poorer while the rich grew richer. I told her about the beginning days of plague, and how even we were wary of what might happen. How we only used the flooded district as our base once we were able to confirm that we had enough medicine to keep us safe here. I told her about the crime and how people struggled to live.  _

_ Then I told her about Burrows and his jobs. How more than once I was hired to kill this or that noble for him. How the coin kept us fed and well off, better than anyone else. How vital that became when the plague appeared and then spread further. How still that coin was not enough. Not when Campbell and his Overseers were hunting us down. She should have known that the Abbey doesn’t like anything Void touched, but I don’t think it dawned on her until that moment that the Abbey would have us all dead, not for the crimes we committed, but for the mark on our skin, no matter how faint.  _

_ I looked her in the eye and told her that everything I just said amounted to excuses. When you reach the core of it, my reasoning was that I wanted the coin for her head so I set out to take her life. I told her that it took Corvo Attano dying on my blade for me to realize that the mission wasn’t worth it. I told her I didn’t realize fast enough to stop her mother from dying too.  _

_ I told her I didn’t expect forgiveness, that I would never ask for it, but that I did regret every bit of it. _

_ She didn’t say a word as she left my office.  _

* * *

_ *A high pitched voice clears their throat.* _

_ Um, let’s see here. I think this is right.  _

_ Daud, I hope you’re listening to this. So I found your recordings and things. I’m really angry at you. I don’t know if I can talk to you without being mad or scared or remembering-  _

_ SCREECH _

_ Is that how you delete it? Okay let’s try this again.  _

_ Daud, I probably won’t be able to say this to your face anytime soon, but Mother always said that the best time to do something is the present and she may have been talking about my homework, but I think it applies to this too so I’m making a recording for you.  _

_ I want to be Empress.  _

_ Wait, no that’s not what I was going to say. Oh bother. Okay so when you were talking about everything that’s gone wrong in Dunwall, I remembered the meetings Mother had but it never sounded as bad as you were saying. And I know Mother was trying to fix it because she was always telling me that it was her job as Empress to fix it, just like Corvo’s was to protect her.  _

_ And the thing is that Finn’s pretty nice. Thomas and Lena and Rulfio too. And all the other Whalers. They love you lots you know and I think you love them just as much too. It’s part of the reason I’m so mad at you.  _

_ I think it would be easier if you were a bad man, like the people Corvo talks about sometimes if I’m really quiet and he doesn’t know I’m around as he works, because then I would be able to hate you for- for killing them I wouldn’t feel so frustrated all the time, but-  _

_ They love you. And I don’t know what to do with the fact that I can see why when I watch you with them. I wish Corvo was alive. If he was here he would know what to say to make it all better. I’m jealous, I think, that you can all be happy together even when-  _

_ *muffled sniffles* _

_ Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t forgive you yet, but I’ll try if you try too. Mother told me that in court, people might say one thing, but act differently so we have to be careful to watch them and know what they really mean by what they do.  _

_ I want to be Empress. I want to make Dunwall the place Mother was trying to make it. But I can’t do it until I get on that throne, and I can’t get there myself. If Corvo was alive, he would be able to help me, but- but he’s not and you  _ killed _ him and-  _

_ *deep breaths* _

_ Corvo’s not around anymore to put me on the throne, but you are and you say you’re sorry so I want you to make me Empress.  _

_ *the sound of running fades into static* _

* * *

_ It’s all finally coming together. Three long months and Burrows is finally getting desperate. His position hangs by a thread made of steel. It’ll take something big to pull him off his ill-gotten throne, but I’ll make sure he’ll get his.  _

_ It’s been hell biding our time gathering supplies and making plans. The Overseers are finally pulling back from hunting us down. Burrows seems to be planning a takeover of the Watch, so they can no longer afford to spread their agents throughout the city. This is our chance.  _

_ Watch out Burrows. I’m coming for you.  _

* * *

_ What the fuck is going on in this cesspool of a city? It just figures that the Abbey wasn’t the end of it.  _

_ Weeks of this bullshit. My men and I thought that it was a good thing that the Abbey was taken down before they could really get going. The robbery was bad enough, but not a single soul remaining conscious for it was enough to make them act like rabid dogs. Campbell was the cherry on top. Without a leader, the Abbey’s in chaos and it seemed like a good thing.  _

_ But it didn’t end there. Whoever this asshole is, they’re ruining my plans. Security has gone up  _ everywhere _ and all sensitive information is burned. I’m the first to admit that I know nothing about the politics behind ruling a country. Give me an ambitious man with the motivation to stab someone else in the back and I can trace the trail anywhere, but there’s more to a government beyond the backroom deals and I need to know what. It doesn’t help me if the nobles are burning everything before we even get there.  _

_ We’ve been reduced to hit and runs and hoping we get lucky. This won’t be enough. Currently, I have my men working on figuring out a way into the Tower and at Burrows. Word is that he’s wary of me coming after his head and he isn’t wrong about that. I’m sure he’s heard of what I did to employers that have double crossed me in the past and it might have seemed like changing the day Emily would have been traded was enough to make me want blood.  _

_ This asshole is everywhere and whatever he’s doing is enough to make the  _ Outsider _ giddy, ugh. I’ve never thought I’d see the black eyed bastard so- so  _ happy _ . It’s clear by now that this ghost has his Mark and his favor, for all that the god always says he has no favorites.  _

_ I finally understand why the Outsider dropped by once we were finally ready to start our attack on Burrows. The god just spoke his usual cryptic messages and said I finally had his interest again before disappearing, but for some reason he insisted on seeing the heart again. Something about it put a strange smile on his face and a shiver down my spine. I don’t know who this ghost is, but I’m going to find out. This has gone on for far too long already.  _

* * *

_ It looks like Billie is back on her feet. Earlier today she came by and asked to start becoming more involved the plans against Burrows.  _

_ It’s been obvious for months now that something broke in Billie when she killed the Empress. I have to wonder if I would have broke just the same had it been me. I told her I would start assigning more missions to her, but both of us knew none of them would be ones likely to see combat.  _

_ All of us know she can no longer hold a blade. I find that, even now I can’t stand to kill again. I don’t know whether it’s out of fear of the twisted enlightenment I received appearing should I take a life once more, or the shade of Corvo that haunts the heart that I carry, but the thought now makes me sick. Be that as it may, I can still fight and she no longer can, not like she used to. It might be a blessing or a curse that my most skillful Whaler is out of commission.  _

_ I’m not blind or deaf. I’ve noticed how some of my Whalers have recently been dissatisfied with the status quo. Thomas is a fantastic second, but he is not the strongest fighter and some of them are displeased with that. The mutters of discontent are few and far between, and talk of leaving the Whalers persist among some of the more mercenary members. If I were to hope, it would be that Billie’s return to more active duty will settle the whispers. But when has hope ever helped anyone? _

* * *

_ C _ _ rash!  _

_ *heavy breathing. Cloth rustling. Feet hit the floor.* _

_ Outsider’s Eyes Corvo, what in the Void are you trying to say? I know I killed you, why the fuck are you showing me what could have been?  _

_ ...Of course you won’t give a straight answer, you’re as bad as that black eyed bastard.  _

_ Alright, I’ll go check on Emily so calm down. Fuck, I’m talking to something that can’t even hear me now.  _

_ *footsteps. A door opens and shuts. Static plays for hours* _

_*an unknown voice*_

_What's this doing on the floor?_

* * *

_ There’s something strange about the heart, more than it is by simply existing. I’ve been having dreams that make no sense. Bits and pieces of a world where Corvo Attano lived. When it started, I confronted the Outsider, but not even he seems to know what’s going on. It’s no comfort. _

_ The Outsider knows more than he’s telling, but then again, when does he ever tell anyone everything? Nonetheless, I’m certain that he’s unsure of the specifics of the matter himself.  _

_ Not even Emily calms it down as she used to anymore. Occasionally, it even makes it worse. I find that I have to sit and bear with it at those times. Paradoxically, trying to avoid her doesn’t help it either. I find sitting with her to, if not pacify, then at least prevent it from worsening until it subsides.  _

_ The girl didn’t deserve anything I did to her or her parents. Not once had I ever thought she would manage to forgive me, for what I did is not something that deserves forgiveness. And yet, despite my unforgivable crimes, she managed to smile at me, even as it pained her.  _

_ Void damn it, I like her. Had she been just another child on the streets, I know my men would have hauled her back with them as one of us, and for all my protesting I would have allowed it because she has spirit.  _

_ Every day I learn a little more about what exactly I caused, be it the suffering of a child or the literal and metaphorical plagues on the city. And I dragged my men in it to boot.  _

* * *

Daud looks up at Thomas and Billie transversing into the room. Thomas steps forward and Billie remains quiet at his back. Thus far, she has managed to speak when she had to, but she still prefers to remain quiet most days. 

“Daud, we’ve been tracking the goods that the ghost has been reselling. Most of what turns up doesn’t appear until weeks after the initial robbery. The few that are sold quickly tend to have been one off deals, where it’s difficult to find who the buyer bought from. We’ve managed to trace some of it back to the Bottle Street Gang, but beyond that we haven’t been able to find much else. Wherever this ghost is getting their information from, it’s not through the usual channels.” 

“Bottle Street, that’s Slackjaw’s men if I remember correctly.” Daud muses, tapping the ash off his cigar. 

Thomas nods. “Yes, sir. Although the trail is faint, we looked into the actions of the Slackjaw’s men. They’ve been moving abnormally for a while now.”

Daud raises an eyebrow. “Go on.” 

“Sir, they’ve been placing stashes of supplies all around the city and usually in less than ideal locations. I’ve seen more than one person steal from those stashes when no one seems to be looking, but the men aren’t even all that shocked.” Thomas straightens and furrows his brow. “Slackjaw isn’t a man who plans poorly. He wouldn’t have gotten nearly as high in the back alleys by being stupid. For whatever reason, he wants these stockpiles found. Additionally, the sheer amount of supplies should be more than what one gang can handle. It’s very likely the ghost is either selling to Slackjaw or working with him, but to what ends, I can’t say.”

A gang being good samaritans? Unlikely. Daud frowns. He should look into this himself. “Get some men to watch the ways in and out of Bottle Street and tell them to wait for my commands.” Daud glanced over them, tired and travel weary. Probably slightly mana deprived too. “And get some rest yourselves. Good work, both of you.”

His men have long since learned to know a dismissal when they heard one and it wasn’t long before Daud was alone again. Fortunate, because as Daud was making his way out, the heart nearly knocked him off his feet from the sheer amount of Void energy radiating from it. 

Daud pulled it out, but he had to grit his teeth against the odd sensation brushing against him. It was so strong that he could even feel it through his gloves, and that was ignoring the fact that it didn’t feel like he knew how the Void should. 

He doesn’t know how long he stares at it, in all honesty it could have been minutes or hours, but nothing about it made any more sense than it did before. “What in the Void…?” 

Belatedly, it occurs to him that he probably shouldn’t be holding the heart for much longer, a premonition of dread filling his veins. The instinct to throw it is sudden in contrast, but it came just in time. 

As the heart soared through the air, the Void gathered thicker around it. The energy was blacker than anything mundane could have ever been, and Daud had to squint to even look at it. An arm was over his eyes regardless. He’s heard of being blinded by light, but not once has he ever heard of someone being blinded by darkness and he doesn’t want to be the first person to lay claim to the title. 

When all returns to normal, or as normal as it could be in the stronghold of assassins touched by the Outsider’s mark, Daud has to blink the spots out of his vision. Even the little light in his room is nearly too much for him all at once, so he holds a hand against his eyes despite his instincts screaming at him to look for threats. It won’t do him any good to render himself useless by being careless and he hears his men transverse into his office besides.

“Daud?!” Rulfio, judging by the voice, but the near hysteria Daud hears in his voice puts him on alert. 

“I’m fine, report. Vision’s spotty.” 

“Uh, sir.” Thomas? Daud frowns. It seems like most everyone’s here then. If Thomas managed to make his way over from all the way in the bunks, then baring a skeleton guard, all Whalers would have gathered. “I really don’t think there’s any real way to say this and not sound crazy, but Attano’s out cold on the ground.”

“What?” Daud blinked hard and finally managed to squint against the light, feeling like he was struck by a thunderbolt. 

Sure enough, a wounded and bleeding Corvo Attano is sprawled out on his floor as if he was there this entire time. The should-be-dead man looks like he’s dying all over again. Among the more obvious injuries are a giant gash that tears his stomach open, and a broken sword arm. And that isn’t even the biggest shock of the night.

“Corvo!” Emily darts to his side before any of his Whalers can stop her. “He’s breathing!” Daud can’t help but glance at the heart still lying next to the Royal Protector, and more importantly, still outside of him. Emily turns pleading eyes on him, as if he would deny her this. “Help him!” 

“Someone prep Andrei for a patient!” He barks as he gathers the man in his arms. A split second thought makes him pick up the heart and place it on the man’s chest to take it with him. No telling what might happen if they’re too far apart. 

Daud feels the transversal more than sees it, and he hurries out of the room to the sound of Thomas taking charge of the remaining men. Emily trails after him, determined to match his pace even as she rapidly runs out of breath. 

Daud heads straight for their infirmary, the path one of the few they’ve made available on foot. Once more, he wishes that transversing with a passenger didn’t have a risk of tearing open wounds further. 

Before he can really register the situation, he’s at the infirmary and Andrei gestures for him to place Corvo on the table. Daud glances at Lena, who must have been the one to get Andrei ready, and she nods and leads Emily away, even as the girl protests. 

Andrei makes a noise of alarm. “There’s no heartbeat!” 

Daud makes a split second decision. “Ignore that. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but treat him as if he had one.” Andrei gives him a look saying that he better be explaining that one later, but Daud ignores it for now. 

As  _ Corvo Attano _ is being operated on by his doctor, Daud is finally able to think clearly about what just happened. 

“This has to be that black eyed bastard’s fault.” Daud mutters to himself and he swears he can nearly hear the whalesong in his ears. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a long one and I swear to you it will never happen again. The biggest reason it got so long is because Daud's been pretty busy and I was essentially trying to stuff 11 chapters of words into one. Now, we're finally caught up and Daud's interacting in present day! So future chapters will remain around 2000 words like usual. I had thought about cutting the chapter in two, but it didn't feel right to separate any of it so I left it as it. I still wasn't able to get everything in this chapter the way I liked, but if I kept waiting any longer, I might never have posted again so here you go. Also I added a No Beta tag because I just realized I didn't put one up for this fic. If you see any inconsistencies, I welcome the corrections! 
> 
> What do you all think of Daud? Did I get his voice right, because I sure hope I did. And what about that surprise Emily Audiograph? :))) Does it explain some things about her? 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments! Trust me, I'm dying to tell you all some things about these characters, you just need to ask!
> 
> P.S. I'm now going to reread Eyes Turned Skyward by puppyblue now that I finally can without influencing my own writing. If you haven't read it yet, I'm telling you to go read it now, it's fantastic!

**Author's Note:**

> Also if anyone can write a better summary, write it in a comment and I'll judge it. I just wrote the one I have on a whim and I'm not sure how good it is.


End file.
